God in the Details

I bought a car today. I bought it because I need a vehicle in Texas. I need a car in Texas because I am moving there. I am moving to Dallas because my job morphed into a new one. My new job is practically my dream job, and this new job is in Dallas. I am less than a year from being retirement eligible, so my cool job and a move to Texas is kind of a no-brainer.

But not without its challenges. It means quite some time living halfway across the country from my best friend and husband (one in the same). It means leaving a GREAT church, my incredible daughter, great friends and the best neighborhood ever. It means a lot of flying home to stay connected with the aforementioned. It means moving my Mom, who lives with us, to another place.

But it’s not forever. And I have an amazing peace about the whole thing. Because I trust that Jesus has my future and my now in His hands. He knows what He is doing and I am totally confident in the knowns and unknowns in every step of this journey, because He is faithful and true, full of grace and mercy, and all loving, all the the time. Count on it.

So I bought this car today, and after two hours of the you-know-what in the dealership finance office, I drove away and noticed…  the car stereo was tuned to K-Love (a Christian radio station) playing a familiar song. What??  God smiling, God taking care of me, taking care of the little details. Making it easy, making it feasible, reminding me He is in the every-day of my life. Today, tomorrow, for the next many months… This song came to mind: You Are for Me 

I serve a great God — the same God Who created the Universe, this earth, and everyone one of us upon it. And this Jesus, Who gave everything to make me (and you) His (when we follow), also bends to remind me each and every day that He is attentive and kind and gracious. None of which I expect, and certainly don’t deserve…

Today I feel like a daughter of the King. He reigns over heaven and earth; Let Him reign in my heart each day like He does today.

 

Sticktoitiveness

I have goals. I make lists. I have several New Year resolutions, my OneWord for the year, a couple of DoOvers, and a 30 day Hustle. I have lists, calendars, journals, post-it notes, and smart phone apps. I have friends, accountability partners, a great online network and all the physical things I need to start and maintain my goals (established blog sites, awesome new running shoes, P90 on order, and more time than l had last year).

Awesome new running shoes.

But I wonder, will I do this? Will I carry out even one of my realistic, needed, HAVE-TO goals?

I ask myself, because I’m not the best at follow-through. I’ve practically perfected the art of procrastination, hate early mornings, and find LOTS of reasons to put a thing off. I start strong and peter out when it doesn’t FEEL good, or gets boring, or something else more attractive catches my time and attention. My mom used to say that I have no “sticktoitiveness.” She’s right.

This year is different, though, and here is why:

1. I found an awesome group of motivating friends online, including a new workout coach and fellow writers who are challenging me to keep going.
2. I believe my goals are God-centered, realistic, achievable and much-needed.
3. I am changing the way I think about goals, not as an end but as systematic. (Check out this article for a good explanation of systems vs. goals.)

So if you are like me and have awesome and important goals but “sticktoitiveness” issues, get connected with motivating folks who will hold you accountable and put a system in place that will maximize your success.

Go for it and don’t quit!

A Year Has Passed…

…since I have posted here. The last thing I wrote, Autumn of 2013, was about the sad loss of our sweet girl-dog. Not long after that life got wild. As it does. A quick glimpse into the happenings:

1. One of my dearest friends moved.
2. My age-abundant mom moved in with us.
3. My responsibilities at work tripled.
4. Another one of my dearest friends moved.
5. My sister and I went to Europe for a missions trip + vacation.
6. We completely remodeled our kitchen (a 3 week project that took over 3 months).
7. My responsibilities at work tripled again.
8. I averaged 80 hours a week at work for most of October through December.

I suppose I could blame my absence and lack of doing a thing I love on the above and more (especially numbers 2, 3, 7, and 8), but since I know people whose lives are more hectic and stressful than mine, I really have no excuse. I do have good blogging matter, however. My New Year’s resolution is to make good use of it…

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!

It was one of those years…

Getting Ready for a New Year

It’s still three days until January 1, 2013, but I’m already gearing up for a fresh start! Here is what I’ve done and am doing to get ready, maybe some ideas will spark some of your own!

First, I selected My One Word. For 2013 it is “Intentional.” I want to be more intentional about what I do with my hours and days, more intentional with the things of God, with relationships. I want to be less careless and haphazard with the things that are most important. After all, I’m not exactly a spring chicken. I want to make the rest of my years count.

So, intentionally, I’ve also set aside my empty “good things” jar to capture all the good things that happen in 2013 to read on New Year’s Eve at the end of the year. (An idea I saw on Pinterest.) I’ve started to gather my plan and recipes for a 21-day Daniel Fast I’m doing with some good friends, and I’ve selected my daily Bible reading plan for the year on You Version.

I’ve purchased my daily devotional for the year (which is the first thing I read before my Bible reading, while the coffee is brewing) and lined up a few books and studies in the priority I want to tackle them.

I’ve made a mental list of things I want to do around the house (which is becoming also a physical list) in order to start the year off a bit more organized, and have even started a bit of purging. This year I plan to be a bit more frugal with making gifts and cards and do-it-yourself household items. (Thank you, Pinterest and a dozen or so blogger-friends!)

I am sure I will add to my New Year prepping list, but I still have two more days! 😀

What are you planning to make this next year the best yet?

Hallmark Guy

My husband looks for and buys me THE BEST cards… then he writes in them (as if the card didn’t already get the eyes blinking back tears) SUCH amazing verse for an introverted geek kinda guy. Then I carry it around for a week, and ultimately tuck it away in a big round can full of cards just like it.

On down days there are two ways to life my chin: Reading God’s word, and reading Jay’s cards.

What Men Wish I Wouldn’t Talk About…

..But I can’t help it.  It’s too good not to share:

My husband does the laundry.

Yes. He does. And he does it well. (OK, one exception: he doesn’t go near the hand-washing, but that’s OK, it’s mostly mine anyway.) From day one of our marriage and faithfully every week, two to three loads. Washes, dries, folds. (Well, he folds his. He neatly lays mine on my side of the bed.)

Twelve years of marital bliss today. We’ve never had a fight, we are still best friends, the lovin’ is great, and I can’t imagine anyone on this earth I’d rather spend time with. All great things. (Yes, ladies, read this and weep:)

AND he does the laundry. 😀

Weekly Photo Challenge: “Morning”

Capturing my favorite morning routine with a new Olympus digital camera using the Drawing filter.