Week 6 Update- Almost Half Way

Posted on by Mary
half

I cannot believe that we have just finished week 6 for this writing project and that we are SUPER close to being half way done. (Today is day 44- we are one week away )

Blogging Update- Here’s What to Expect in October.

Up until this point In the writing project I have been just diving in head first, gaining courage. I have checked off a number of the blog posts on my VERY lengthy post idea list. There hasn’t been a theme at all really, but I knew that once we hit October I was going to change paces and revisit a theme from a few years ago. I wanted to finish what I started . I have the content it just never made it into posts.

Behind the scenes I have been doing some in depth planning. I knew that when I participated in #write31days a few years ago that is was said to be the last year. I don’t know why I stopped posting at Day 18 but for whatever reason I did.

So when I took this writing project on I know that October was going to be dedicated to this theme I just wouldn’t use the hashtag and I wouldn’t be “signed up” but hey I am writing for “31” days in October anyway. Then I started seeing emails flood my inbox sharing about the procedure and prompts and stuff like that- Well I am not really interested in the prompts but I can still write about whatever I want and I can link up.

So Starting October 1st you will see that hashtag and title pop up and hopefully we will get some more friends to join us along the way but the only difference you will notice is an ongoing theme.

And the theme is……

INFLUENCE

I told you I was going to finish what I started! So if you haven’t read the first 18 blog posts you can catch up here.

Like I said before this was a part of my plan to begin with way back in August when I started this journey. I think the interesting thing about all of this is that over the last 6 weeks as I have prayed about this topic and as I revisited my post list I already had I began to see that certain posts would fit into the whole influence topic. I began to mark them with a highlighter and added them to my list.

But what about the other 13 days?

Saying that just sounds ridiculous to me- I mean really? This is day 44 and I couldn’t finish out 13 days ? But I have to remember I was in a difference place and a different time. I have changed a whole lot since 2018.

About a month ago I realized that the post list I had made wasn’t still in the planner from that year. So I began to pray and ask God to help me find it.

As I decluttered a bookshelf in out bedroom I found the list tucked in the back of a stack of papers on a clipboard.! I couldn’t believe it. So then I began working through them.

What I saw were some posts that I wasn’t ready to write then but I am now. Now those posts have some different perspectives that can be added that I did not have before and after six weeks of writing I no longer have the fear to write….ok maybe a smidgen but it’s not going to stop me.

As for the other weekly posts I know at least Tuesdays and Sundays will get two posts. And that’s the weekly update and the A Time to play posts. But those aren’t hard. They are both just sharing the week. All of the work is done. The other two might be hit or mis.

I am so excited

Words cannot express just how excited I am to embark on this journey to finish what I started. It’s been nagging me for 3 years and I am going to fight for completion this time. And I am excited for you to join me on this journey!

Thanks for joining me for My Choosing Courage 100 day writing project.. You can check out all the other posts by clicking here.

Happy Homemaker Monday-

Posted on by Mary
Home

Welcome to our home- or at least our home on the internet. This is just my little corner. It’s been a BUSY week here in our neck of the woods and we are so glad you came to join us. Grab your favorite hot beverage and sit back and joy. We are so glad you came to join us.

Breakfast time….what is on the plate this morning::::

Pumpkin Spiced Coffee Yogurt with Granola

  Looking around the house::::

The downstairs is pretty much downstairs is ignorer. Theres a few dishes from yesterday but other than that I can start in on deep cleaning and organizing the kitchen

On today’s to do list::::

  • Declutter and deep clean one third of the kitchen cabinets
  • Finish two books (I am super close on two of them)
  • Top of the Stairs needs to be cleaned
  • my graft room needs finished

Currently reading::::

  • Hello Fears
  • Get Out of Your Head
  • My Bible
  • Corrie ten Boom(biography with the kids for morning basket)
  • S.H.A.P.E.
  • Practical Dreamer

I should be able to finish S.H.A.P.E. and Practical Dreamer this week and come mighty close if not finish Get Out of Your Head this week

On the TV this week::::

Nothing really- Our schedule is pretty full this week

The weather outside is::::

On the menu this week::::

Monday –  Stir Fry with Shrimp

Tuesday –   Philly cheesesteak Stuffed peppers

Wednesday –   Beggie Soup

Thursday –   Homemade subs and Chips (our eat in the car night)

Friday –  

Saturday –  Chicken and Rice Bake

Sunday –  Pasta, Salad and Bread and some form of dessert -( We have guests)

If I have a few minutes to myself, I will::::

Start on some of the sketches for Inktober

New recipe I tried, or want to try this week::::

None

One of my simple pleasures:::

Getting up early in the morning when hubby leaves for work and I can get a head start on my day

Favorite photo from the camera::::

Praying for::::

♥♥  Lots of friends and family who either have COVID or knows someone who does. One person in particular is not doing so well but is making strides in the right direction.
♥♥ Our Search Process ♥♥Friends and family who are struggling♥♥ someone having a baby. ♥♥ Soccer practices and games this week ♥♥ Government leaders

Bible Verse, Devotional that is resonating with me at the moment:::: 

As I finish out James 2 this week this struck a chord.

And for more Happy Homemaker Monday posts Check out Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Thanks for joining me for My Choosing Courage 100 day writing project.. You can check out all the other posts by clicking here.

A Time to Play: Inktober

Posted on by Mary
Inktober

I am so Excited. This week marks the beginning of Inkrober. It is my third year participating in this fun daily exercise is getting better and challenging yourself to do the daily prompt.

It’s amazing just how much your skill gets better over the 31 days. You can get as simple or as elaborate as you want. the point is that you at least draw everyday so you can work towards making it a habit.

So how does this fit here? Well in the spirit of Choosing Courage I am going to share my progress here each week. Right here as A Time to Play post.

And in the spirit of the challenge I thought I would share with you some of my favorites from last years #inkrober

Last years Faves

Now these aren’t in any particular order- I know which is the last one I did though. Most of my art from last year was mostly in black and white as I was super busy. And just took the time to focus on the drawing. Now you don’t need to follow the prompt list either. In the past when I was first beginning I tried my hand at a couple of different drawing and made my own prompt list and almost all of my drawings were colored in. My schedule looked different then,

That big black splotch in the middle of the crater is NOT a part of the drawing- Just an FYI.

This was my last picture of inktober last year- It’s the only one that is completely colored. When I finished uploading it to Instagram I knew it wasn’t going to stay blackened white. I had been learning some alcohol marker techniques and I was excited to try them out. I can definitely see a difference in the technique from the first few characters to the last ones I did. (I used #Ohuhu mArkers and I used Artist loft and Micron Fineliners

This years Prompt list

You can totally follow along with me each day by going and checking out my instagram

You can also follow the Inktober hashtag on Instagram .

Thanks for joining me for todays Choosing Courage post. You can check out all the other posts by clicking here.

When I picked Intentional….

Posted on by Mary
Intentional;

I Expected something different to happen when I chose the word intentional for the year. I think I nailed down my word for 2021 way back in September or October of 2020.

I knew somethings needed to change in how I was approaching life…..not that it was bad but I had lost myself (more on that on Wednesday next week) and with it had went my purpose. I still clung to it but it was hard to see. Something else had gotten in the way…SURVIVAL.

It’s hard to be intentional and in Survival Mode all at the same time

When we hit survival mode we are doing sometimes the bare minimum. We are kicking our legs in the proverbial swimming pool of life trying to stay afloat. Being intentional is rooted in a very strong sense of purpose. I knew what my purpose was I just Couldn’t seem to connect the dots. I was just on auto pilot all the time.

Now some of this feeling or sense of auto-pilot and exhaustion was most certainly linked to the ticking time bomb that was very quickly growing in my belly. And when it had reached it’s full capacity and needed to be dealt with I had chosen to be very intentional with Christmas. I laid out all these really cool plans and we intentionally built in family time and serving another family. BUT……that isn’t what my focus ended up being. God used that medical emergency to teach me another form of intentionality. REST and FOCUS.

Intentional REST and FOCUS

Intentional rest was going to become the necessity over the next 9 months because the medical journey was really only beginning. Rest was going to be required and I was going to need to learn to listen to my body. I couldn’t just fly into auto-pilot and do all he things now. My iron levels plummeted. I needed to be able to have a new intentional focus.

That focus was learning out to think beyond the anxiety that was becoming my new normal. At first we thought it was just related to the medical trauma that had happened but as the doctor delved deeper into blood work we started noticing that my iron levels never reached a “normal level”. Now back in December I had learned this intentional focus on a whole new level. Pain and Fear.

Pain

Pain was now a new part of my life and I am not talking about ouch a sprained my toe. It was a new level of pain…..pain that surpassed labor…..surpassed the never ending pain of a gallbladder issue and left me pretty close to the edge of insanity. I kept telling hubby at least for the labor you have a break (sometimes) between contractions. This was intense constant and really the narcotics didn’t touch it.

I really had to practice focusing on the truths I know about God and his promises. It was the only way I could make it through and it was going to be the only way I could handle the fears that would bombard me in the coming months.

Fears

The fears would race through my head as my heart began racing….and the anxiety kicked in. Faster and faster my heart would feel like it was in a race but I was laying flat on my back. My mind would take off trying to outrun my heart. Irrational fears would join the race and my body felt out of control. Something had to change and fast.

I began to learn about iron deficiency and anemia. I was making intentional choices about what I was putting into my body. I have become an unintentional expert in what foods were rich in iron. I have made some of the craziest things to eat/ drink but nothing was working. In the midst of all of that I learned something very powerful. one of the side effects of iron deficiency is AXIETY and heart racing.

Knowing this made a powerful impact on the sometimes hourly struggles I was now having. I could be even more intentional in the thoughts when they started spinning out of control!

Letting Go intentionally

If you read yesterday’s post we all struggle with letting Go. And I came face to face with letting Go in March. As we made our final decision to leave hubby’s ministry position of 12 years, I had to make a very intentional choice of letting go. I could have held on tightly to some of the things I had to let go of. But I learned a long time ago told hold things with an open hand. It’s way worse if God has to pry our fingers open and remove whatever we are holding onto.

I have watched people hold onto things and not let go as they exited ministry. It hurt so many people. And the ministry and I knew I had to be intentional about leaving. It was hard very hard. But in the end there was a sense of closure for both us and the people we were letting Go of!.

Other Intenionalities

Along the way I have also had to be intentional in so many other ways.

Intentional:

  • prayer- praying for hard things. It might mean seeing hurtful things happen but if it helps people to get back in a right relationship with Jesus
  • purpose-keeping my eye on what I am called and gifted to do rather than just filing in gaps .
  • gratitude
  • attention
  • boundaries
  • fun
  • writing/blogging
  • reading
  • family time
  • listening
  • planning
  • balance
  • no’s
  • yes’

So what I thought would turn out to be a year of choosing intentional time morphed into intentional everything.

How about you? Have you made a choice to be more intentional in a certain area only to be taken on a journey of intentionality..

I’m so glad that you joined me for day 41 of Choosing Courage 100 day blogging project. If you are just joining in you can check out the first post here. And if you have missed any of the other posts you can check them out here.

One book that has helped greatly in having Intentional thoughts is Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen You can Check her out here

Letting Go- Day 40

Posted on by Mary
Letting

Letting Go. I don’t know about you but it is probably the thing I have done most in my life. And it got even more intense as a mom. When our kids learned to walk we had tp let go. And they had to let go, but letting go is TERRIFYING.And as kids get older it gets worse.

It was so difficult to let go of my oldest son at age 12when hubby told me I had to let him go…..to the lake to go fishing by himself. I should preface this by saying it was a Christian camp where our family is very well known and there was very little traffic and he was a fairly responsible child and a pretty good swimmer.

Letting Go as they get older

I have to chuckle because at that moment of letting Go at 12 seemed so huge, but it’s been 4 years. Yep He’s 16 and yep he has his learners permit. It was a few days of struggle letting him get behind the wheel. But see I have been practicing! That moment at age 12 was really serving the purpose of getting ready for this moment and this moment is preparing me for one day down the road for another letting go moment. I am soooo grateful that this is how God has it set up…..Baby Steps. Hmmmm interesting that that’s how the very first moments of letting go are- baby steps. Mommy’s ad daddy’s need to let their little ones go. Yes they may tumble but we cheer them on to get up and keep going.

And babies need to let go of the furniture they are cruising around . It’s the first step in a long line of letting go.

Hello 2021

Hindsight is 2020 (I know that was last year) but looking back I had no concept that this year was going to be a year long process of learning to let go. .

I have let go of

  • confort
  • friends
  • miistry
  • fears
  • balance
  • ideals (this has been a theme for a LONG time- you would think I would have learned my lesson by now )
  • promises
  • committements others made
  • hurts, frustrations
  • the past
  • normal
  • time
  • energy
  • time like I once knew it

Now before you assume you know what I am talking about – I will guaruntee you don’t Most of these things surprised me I wasn’t expecting any of these things.

I wish I could tell you that letting go has gotten easier over the years…for some things it has but for others- nor so much. A lot of his has to do with preparing your heart and being willing to trust God with it all We can have peace. Not that it’s easier but we can trust. AND Letting Go is one of the biggest displays of our faith in God – when we trust him that he has it all under control!

Have you ever had a season of learning to let go? What was the hardest part?

I’M SO GLAD YOU JOINED ME FOR DAY 40 OF MY CHOOSING COURAGE 100 DAY WRITING PROJECT!

In case you missed them you can catch up on the other posts here