Particpating in Lent

I've decided to participate in Lent this year. Growing up in a Baptist Church it wasn't really talked about, but as I have gotten older I'v found myself thinking that only celebrating holidays such as Christmas and Easter on one day each doesn't portray the significance of these events in my life. I believe that God sent his son to be born as a baby, live life on earth and then be crucified for my sins on a cross. This is the core of who I am and how could I not spent more than 2 days a year thanking God for this. Today is the start of Lent, Ash Wednesday. I didn't even really know the history on Lent, I knew that people gave up things for it and only ate fish on Fridays so I did a little research
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Here's a link to an article on Christianity Today:The Beginning of Lent Christian History

Lent is meant to be a time of self reflection, a time to acknowledge that we are sinners and need repentance. I am going to be participating in an unhurried pilgrimage through Lent. This is a study through done by reFresh ministries. I've been a fan of them on facebook for awhile now and decided today to go for it. You can find the link on my facebook page if you want to participate.

I'm looking forward to this unhurried path of preparation for the Easter season and can't wait to see what God has to show me on this journey.

February goals

So in my year of setting goals for myself every month I've learned a bit about setting goals. First and foremost, goals are only acheiveable if you have a plan starting out. I set 5 goals for last month. 1 was easy for me, that was to pay cash for everything. I had already started working on my dishes daily so that also was easy. With my Mom's help I've almost finished a complete transformation of my master bedroom. The last 2, tackling the paper as it comes in the house and putting clothes away daily, were very hard for me. I found that because I didn't have an organized system for doing either one that it was hard to even start them. Once I got laundry baskets in my bathroom and bedroom I have been able to easily put things away. Still haven't got my office organized so the paper thing is still going to be a work in progress. Overall I feel like I'm making progress and learning that the clutter in your house/life really has an impact on how I feel. Before I redid my bedroom I would spend very little time in there. Since I have done it I feel very relaxed in there and have spent more time in there and also sleeping much better!

So here are February's goals:

1. Get an organized system for paper in my house: this will mean having my office organized so that when things need filed or shredded there is a place to do that easily every time.

2. Put shoes away: I prefer to be barefoot inside. So my shoes end up dropped wherever I kick them off when I come in. This month they go back in the closet!

3. Dust and Vacumn the Master Bedroom weekly: It's nice and new so it needs to be kept looking that way(and the glass topped sidetables are dust magnets).

I'm looking forward to seeing(and feeling) what happens as I continue to decrease the clutter in my life. Realizing that I can't have room for what God may have in store for me if every nook and crany of my life is stuffed with things that don't matter.

Making Progress: Master Bedroom

So here are "After" and "Before" pictures of my bedroom. It's been a while coming. The inspiration for this room are the prints that are on the wall. They were a wedding gift my grandparents received when they got married.

Been thinking the last few days about what I want goals I want to set for this year. I've decided to not call them resolutions because I want to set reachable small goals that end up adding up to big changes. The big goal is to live more simply. What do I think that looks like? It looks like a lot less clutter in my life. Clutter including the stuff we have at home, but also clutter like the lists of projects around the house(and my sewing room). I want to be free to do things spontaneously and not have to worry about what the house looks like if I want to have someone over. I'm trying to change the habits that drag me down.

Today I came across this quote from Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson, " Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time."

How many times have I made those New Year Resolutions so big that there's no way to reach them?

So here are my goals for this month:

1. Use cash for everything- I find that I can control my budget a lot better using cash instead of my debit card. Actually started this last month, it's interesting to see how cashier's react to the fact that I'm counting out my money instead of swiping that card.

2. Continue to do the dishes daily- This one I started in November and have been pretty successful thus far. This is a big one for me because I don't have a dishwasher and as much as it's a pain to do everyday it's so much easier in small amounts.

3. Deal with paper as it comes in the house- I cannot believe the amount of junk mail I get every day(most days that's all that comes). Today I logged on to DMAchoice.org and opted out of bulk mailing. It was so easy to do(and it's free). It will take a few weeks for it to take full affect, but I plan to deal with the mail when I get it each day.

4. Put clothes away daily- So I'm going to admit it right here. I'm messy! It's hard when you live by yourself, there's no one there every day to motivate me to put things away. My laundry gets folded and put away when it's clean, but I'm committing to actually getting the dirty stuff in a hamper and not just in a big pile on. It's kind of hard to admit I'm messy, but admitting it's the first step!

5. Finish my master bedroom transformation- I'm great at planning renovations, it's the actual execution that's a problem. I'll say that I come by this naturally, I'm a Daddy's girl and he's an expert at starting projects and getting distracted before their done. I have everything to do it except the paint and I even have a gift card for that. Hoping to be done by the end of next week, so that I can have a relaxing room after my shoulder surgery.


I think that those are small goals and it's felt great to achieve the ones I've already started. I'll have to think hard for next month since I'll be in a sling for most of it. Kind of hard to do some things one handed. I wish all of my friends that have made goals for this year patience with themselves. Just remember that changes don't happen overnight. It's a process.

Taking the Plunge...

I finally broke and started a blog. I'm trying to learn to live life with what I'm given to deal with and hope that by sharing this with friends and family they can help hold me accountable to what I'm doing. The title comes from my childhood. In Girl Scouts our leaders(Mom and Linda F) were always trying to teach us to be adaptable to whatever situation came up. Whether it was when they forgot the food in the fridge at home for our retreat(and we forgot Mom's sleeping bag) or when we traveled to Vancouver BC to camp out at the World Expo and it poured rain(and our fearless leaders were asleep in the nice dry van while we slept in the wet tents) they would always remind us to "Be Adaptable". Mom's other favorite is, "We're having an Adventure!". We heard this every time plans didn't work out or we were lost. I'm grateful for those lessons I was taught and the last 16 months have made me think about them even more. I have been off work because of a shoulder injury and am not sure when I'm going to get to go back. I've learned that if I worry about the when's and if's that it might just drive me crazy. I'm looking forward to the adventure of it all knowing that God has a plan for me. He says in Jeremiah 29:11," 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." At times right now it feels like calamity is where I live, but I do have faith that I am headed in the right direction because I believe that God knows what his plan for me is. I'd love to know the plan, but life would be so boring if we always knew what was going to happen. Here's to the Adventure to come!