Out my Window: beautiful fall morning, sun is shining, warm morning, hill is full of color
Enjoying: sunrises, incredible color on the hills, morning views, beautiful fall weather, hiking, apple weather candle burning each evening, twinkle lights on at night, being around crazy kids, fresh flowers
Listening to/Watching: One of my sons dropped a new album that I recommend, Ruins by For My Nine Friends. You can listen in one of these two places: https://soundcloud.com/for-my-nine-friends or https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWxxDW0wpmX75WVOBOY-8HwwsrdGCBPy4 Watched Daren Streblow’s Dry Bar Special, thankful for comedy. I finally got around to listening to a sermon my older son recommended from Carl Lenz which is worth the listen, I’m not slowing down, https://youtu.be/hmd22dHLQMw?t=723 I am at the end of Lord of the Rings Trilogy: The Twin Towers. https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Two-Towers-Audiobook/B009ABHTF4?qid=1598033985&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=6KR21Q0934XX42SAEX7K So much wisdom and encouragement in this epic tale. I am thinking I need to keep going and finish the trilogy, although I have some other good ones calling my name.
Reading: By my bedside: The Pursuit of the Holy: A Divine Invitation by Simon Ponsonby. Still reading Jen Pollock Michel’s book Surprised by Paradox: The Promise of And in an Either-Or World.
I am reading Shelly Miller’s Searching for Certainty: Finding God in the Disruptions of Life coming out October 13 . I was thankful to get on her book launch team. Shelly’s writing is full of beauty and real life. I can’t wait for the physical copy, but I am thankful for the timing of getting to read the advanced e-book. The tag line of the book was enough to draw me in.
I am reviewing a study on Habakkuk from Dannah Gresh for Moody Publishing. It is a good study but might be a bit much for my ladies’ small group right now, so I plan on using parts of it, along with her podcast on Habakkuk to create a study that fits our group.
Rambling Thoughts: “I want to go back to my old school and first grade,” sobbed the little girl over her math work. After discussions with myself and another adult, it became clear that my little friend did not miss her old school or being in first grade. She missed being good at math and already knowing what to do. She was convinced that she would never understand this math. I started thinking isn’t that like us. We think we want to go back to something else, but what we really want is to know what to expect and already be good at what we are doing. Learning and pivoting is hard. It takes concentration, it takes humility as we fail and learn. It takes time to grow into and learn whatever the new season has. These last months have been much learning and pivoting. It has many of us wishing to go back, but if we’re honest it isn’t about time, or location but that we knew how to do life in the last season, or least we remember it that way. It is amazing how easy it is to conveniently forget how long it took to learn the rhythm and pacing of the last season even without a pandemic. There were challenges and hardships, along with all the positive things we remember, but it wasn’t quite as simple as we recall, or even as lovely as we remember. Thankfully we are remembering the good, but there is much good right here, even here, I went through a time of wishing to go back, or like many looking forward to turning the calendar to 2021. If we are honest we know the a flip of a calendar page is not going to cure all, so now I am choosing to be more present here, and listen better for the rhythms of this moment. There are gifts found here in this moment no matter how challenging and hard or unexpected it might be. I am also naming what is hard and difficult but with a new confidence that this season will be one that will refine and equip me for the next. Without this season of strengthening the next season will be another wrestling and wishing it away. It is hard to feel awkward in this moment of unknowns with a future filled with more, but God promises that His plans are good and not meant for harm. He promises that there will always be enough light for the next step if I am willing to keep holding on and looking for Him.
Fitness and Mental Health: Hiking, walking, and/or Pilates almost every day. I am enjoying the Balanced Life Community. Having that accountability and easy access is helpful. Mental Health: Exercise is key and continuing to look for beauty. Writing the date and day and a brief list of the events of day has been very helpful for my mental health. Numbering my days…Walking with friends, finding ways to make days special for myself and others definitely helps my mental state to improve. Taking time to enjoy the beauty refreshes my soul.
Home: Mostly keeping up with the basics. Cleaned up two of the gardens. It is much sadder pulling out than planting. I am so thankful for this year with gardens that blessed me and I was able to share the blessing with others. This week I will be home more than I originally planned, so I am thinking of making a list of chores so I can focus daily on something specific.
Giving Thanks For: gorgeous mornings, encouraging friends, laughter, beautiful fall days, my home, provisions, rest, walks, so much beauty in this world, praying friends, good books, challenging thoughts, community, grace, my son’s musical talent and desire to make something beautiful, other son being a good worker and teammate, both of their abilities to lead from under, hiking with my hubby, walking with two different friends, God ordering my days, His protection against the unseen
Inkblot Life 