Category: Choosing Courage

Drum Roll Please- Week 14 Update

Posted on by Mary
Drum

DRUM ROLL PLEASE- Cue the trumpets and Confetti!

We did it friends- 100 Days! All wrapped up here in this last blog post…..and ya know what? I don’t want to stop. I knew going into this challenge one of two things were going to happen. Either I was going to get to the end and still want to write OR I was going to get to the middle give up and I knew that it would be really hard to continue writing,

I wasn’t sure if I could even do this. It wasn’t easy. I had to let go oof some ideals a long the way (as do we all). I know I mentioned last week that hubby really wanted me to take a break but I didn’t know how that will all would pan out BUT!!! I have figured it out. I will be taking break until December 1st…HOWEVER if you show up here or on facebook you will see that I still have posts that have went up! THAT”S because I wrote them ahead!

A Couple of Thank you’s

I have to thank two very special ladies who really kept me going through this project. I could NOT have done it without them. They have been such a great encouragement even when other people let me know they thought I was crazy. And they were right on the mark when I was struggling. (They didn’t know I was struggling so much that I wanted to quit). And then BAM both of them texted me in the same evening letting me know how much I was encouraging them. WOW.

I couldn’t have done this without my hubby either . Man whenever I was struggling with a topic God had laid on my heart to write about but I wasn’t sure about connections he and I would tease out the various areas I was struggling with. He also provided time and space and encouragement to keep going when the schedules got rough.

And for God, through this project he showed me some things about myself. (That post will come at a later date). Without him I wouldn’t have had the courage to do this. nor would I have had the words to say. Through this I have learned why I do what I do AND I have learned to give myself grace and to let go of my ideals and seek to truly please HIM and only Him.

In the coming weeks….

In the coming weeks there will be some big announcements about my blog and the future of it…and many other things. so stay tuned.

And one more thank you!

This thank you goes to YOU my readers. Thank you for hanging out for the last one hundred days I appreciate you so much.

I hope you all have a blessed thanksgiving and we will see you back here December 1st!

Feel Free to check out the other Choosing Courage 100 Day blogging Project posts here

Modified Inktober Drawing-A Time to Play

Posted on by Mary
modified

A few weeks ago I said that I would show modified or completed (as in colored in) inktober sketches. Well last week clearly didn’t happen. So here we are today. I’m not going to do all of them in their completed states, Just a few of my favorites.

I wanted to try out some shading techniques I had learned from Lindsay the Frugal Crafter On YouTube. I have learned quite a bit from her.

One thing I have learned recently is using not just one medium. In my case I was using my Ohuhu alcohol markers. But after watching her videos I saw she was using colored pencils to shade her alcohol markers inktober sketches. Can I just saw I AM IN LOVE!!!!

Here is the before

Here is the after

As I have had a learning curve with this sketchbook (it’s just a different texture). I have struggled with my markers being streaky. They aren’t usually in my other sketchbooks. I learned to use this to my advantage (mostly) but I still enjoy a smooth texture. I’m very pleased with the outcome for sure.
I am also learning to use colors I wouldn’t normally use to shade. Case in point in this picture I used purple to shade pink (that was outside my comfort zone but I enjoyed the process and like the outcome!!!)

this journey in choosing courage isn’t just about blogging for 100 days. It’s about the process and growing. And taking risks to try new things.
I can totally get in a rut with my art and with blogging. So in the coming months you might see some fun stuff going on. Testing out the waters and trying new things is what I need to do. It’s the only way I’m going to grow in courage!!

Stay tuned for other modified Inktober posts. We will be taking next week off for Thanksgiving but we will pick things up the following week!

Thanks so much for joining me on this journey of Choosing Courage. You can check out the other posts here!!!!

Life’s 5 Greatest Questions (Purpose Driven Life)

Posted on by Mary
Questions

Hi Friends today we are going to tackle life’s 5 greatest questions. These are 5 questions posed at the end of Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life (Not an affiliate link).

But first a little back story

I started The Purpose Driven Life in 2019. The book originally came out while I was in Bible College and many of my college peers (including my future hubby ) had to read the book for various classes. It was not part of my reading so I just didn’t read it.

Over the years hubby and I talked about me reading it but I just never “got around to it”.

So I started it towards the end of 2019 but I was diving deep into it even listening to the messages that went along with each chapter. I was learning so many things. I couldn’t get enough.

I had been struggling with my purpose. That happens when you find yourself living in the expectations of others trying to fill in all the gaps. Things start getting cloudy and lines are blurred. What I didn’t know was God was using this book and the corresponding messages to draw defining lines for me AND for hubby. (he would listen to the messages right along with me. ) I couldn’t read the book in 30 days but I finished the book and messages not long after quarantine hit in 2020.

And this blog post got added to a long list of others.

I knew that I wanted to blog out my answers to the questions BUT……I knew that many of my fellow ministry leader friends and fellow Christians didn’t appreciate the book. And so…I let my fear leave this post on the every growing list of posts that found me crippled by other people’s opinions.

And for the last year and a half this post has haunted me, eveytime I read through the list I would become even more aware that I was not CHOOSING Courage. Even over the last few months I have found myself saying “next week”. I would feel that twinge of fear and hear that echoing “BUT, But, BUT…and the excuses would roll around my heart.”

So today…

Today I am answering these questions. I am not going to get into negative discussions about the book or the author. These are my answers to these questions. These are the things I have had to wrestle through. And the person I have to answer to is God.

So here we go.

1)  What will be the center of my life?  

The center of my life will be Jesus. In everything I say and do I hope will reflect him being the center of my life. I know somedays I will make wrong choices BUT my desire is to quickly get refocused back on Jesus.

2)  What will be the character of my life? 

I want the Character of my life to be that of integrity and purity. Choosing what is right over what is easy. Not looking for my own profit or gain but seeking to be honorable in all that I say and do.

3)  What will be the contribution of my life? 

I want my life contribution to be that of a godly influence to everyone within my sphere of influence. I don’t just want to be good . I want to impact Christians and help them reach their full potential rather than live a life of mediocrity. I want to help Christians choose excellence rather than living in name only, seeing that their lives are fully devoted to Christ rather than only bits and pieces through this blog and personal interactions and teaching.

4)  What will be the communication of my life? 

First and foremost the gospel but then to believers to commit living a life of better Jesus followers. Sharing with other believers how to live more like Jesus and encouraging each other to grow in our walk with Him,

5)  What will the community of my life be? 

First and foremost my family. These are the people I do life with the most. But then it is my connect group, some close friends and my church family and those I serve with as well as my community here on my blog.

THIS IS MY SPERE OF INFLUENCE!

It took me all of 30 minutes to write this blog post and nearly a year and a half to gather the courage to do so.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. Have you read the book and wrestled through these questions? Did they come easy for you or not so much? Let me know in the comments below.

If you are new here Welcome! I am so glad you are here! Please introduce yourself in the comments below.

Fell free to check out the rest of the posts in the Choosing Courage 100 day blogging project!

Joy Dare: December 12th- 18th (One Thousand Gifts)

Posted on by Mary
Gifts

Hello Friends and welcome to another week of sharing the many gifts and blessings, big and small, that God has given to us!. I know that November tends to be a month that we focus more on gratitude but may I challenge you to join me through the end of the year to really focus on all the things we have to be grateful for!

Day 12 – 3 gifts at noon

  1. lunch
  2. A much needed break
  3. the kids being independent

Day 13 – 3 Gifts behind a door

  1. my craft room
  2. fabric stash
  3. my bead

Day 14 – 3 Gifts silent

  1. nights
  2. early mornings
  3. my craft room

Day 15- 3 Gifts Golden

  1. the sunshine
  2. glitter for Christmas presents
  3. jewelry findings

Day 16- 3 Gifts Hard Eucharisteo

  1. Letting Go
  2. moving forward (taking next steps_
  3. Holding on for dear life

Day 17- 3 gifts of laughter

  1. 4 kids
  2. pets
  3. hubby

Day 18- A gift made, shared, passed on 

  1. Made- Our girl making a gift for her brother
  2. Shared- funny moments and memories
  3. passed on- wisdom

How about you? What are you most grateful for this week? Please share in the comments below! How has God blessed you this last week? The last month? the last year?

I’m so glad you came by to say Hello and join in on the Joy Dare this week and I’m praying You all have a fabulous week full of gratitude and Joy!

And how about You what have you found joy in this week?

For more Joy Dare posts click here and for more Choosing Courage Posts click here.

To Check out The Joy Dare and One Thousand Gifts  by Ann Voskamp click here.

Writer’s Block

Posted on by Mary
writer's

It’s taken 94 days- It was something I actually feared coming into this writing Challenge. But not until today did I experience writer’s block. The funny thing about this bout of writers block is that I have lots of topics but I have hit a point where I have hit my word limit.

I deal with this a lot in my everyday life mostly because I am an introvert and when I have used up my words for the day I am don Just let me wrap up in a blanket and go off to sleep.

This is something I have noticed about myself throughout this project. If I wake up in the morning and jump right into writing it’s not a problem BUT…..if I am doing a lot of talking either as I am writing OR before I start writing one of two things happens. I can either write a little and have to pick it up when everyone else is in bed or I don’t write at all and then it is a real struggle toto write the post right before bed. I stuck with it. I posted something every single day BUT I can read through the posts and I can almost always tell you which ones I wrote in the mornings or the evenings (without looking at the timestamp)

My Word Bank

I have learned that I need to spend my words wisely. Because if I don’t something suffers….

I feel bad for people who call me on the phone at night time because my words have all been used up. I never realized it until the other night. Hubby called I found myself repeating uh huh and he asked me if I was still there TWICE. And one thing I have never struggled with is talking to him. We started talking one day and we have never stopped. We can talk about anything.

So as I sat here tonight looking at the two lines of the blog post I needed to write today I asked myself why the words couldn’t formulate in my head clearly- I knew exactly what I wanted to say. I have all my notes.

Don’t Force it

Another thing I have learned is that if it won’t come don’t force it. I did that with a post a few weeks into this writing project. I woke up the next morning and deleted most of it and rewrote it.

When the words don’t come it’s ok. AND it’s took to write an honest post about where you are at and what you are struggling with. Leave the post for that day for another day.

A New sense of freedom

And out of a simple case of writer’s block a new sense of freedom is realized. It’s ok not to meet even my own standards because sometimes life is crazy. Some days it’s ok to do something differently than you had originally planned.

This is just a small snippet of the things I have learned over the last 13 weeks of this writing project. It has been very freeing and eye opening to learn these things.

It gives me a greater understanding f how to move forward in my blogging and in life. This allows me to see why I need to sleep after interacting with a lot of people or a prolonged interaction or intense interaction.

Thanks for joining me on this weird little blog post about writers block and an introduction of sorts to some of the things I have learned about myself during this project. I am sure there is more to come!

You can check out the other posts in the choosing Courage -100 day Blogging Project here..