I need to rediscover this blog thing. Too often I find myself 'blogging' in my head while I am in the shower, driving to or from work or I am laying in bed at night rehashing my day in my barely conscience mind. I have the desire, however, I just lack the discipline it takes to sit myself down at a computer and tap out my thoughts onto a white screen. But I am sure I have shared my blogging struggles before so I will spare you the whining.
One good thing of having a birthday in the beginning of the new year is not only have I had to think through the past year because of the start of a new year but I also get to think of the past year of my life and the changes I need to make. I get a double whammy of reflection in the start of the new year.
My motto for the day of my birth was, "It's my birthday and I am not going to do anything I don't want to do." Well that day has slipped through the hour glass and it is now January 13 which means, as I tell my kids, "Sometimes we have to do the things we don't want to do." I now have to put my hand to the plow, sow more seeds and harvest what grows in this next year of my life.
I have spiritual goals, to finish the one year Bible reading schedule I began two years ago, impact the maturity and growth of my kids by being able to humble myself and ask for their forgiveness when I have wronged them, go on a Making Peace With Your Past retreat and be able to move forward from what is holding me back, commit more scripture to memory, have a more sincere prayer life, and a few others I care to withhold between God and me.
I have personal goals of weight loss, exercise, work on my parenting skills, be a more compassionate wife and mother, employment skills growth, journal my thoughts, blog more, read more, watch less television, save more, spend less, get out of debt sooner, eat healthier and I am sure the list could go on. I should stop and write all of these down so that I don't forget what moving forward looks like to my sleep deprived mind at almost 2 am.
The bottom line is I want to change, I need to change some pretty important things in my life. I only go through this life cycle once, I only get one chance to raise my kids and shape their lives, one trip through this life to make memories to cherish so that at the end of my life I can look back and say, "I did my best." There will always be regrets, disappointments, and wishing I could change the decisions I made, after all I have them now and I am not even done living. I just don't want to throw this valuable time away on fancy whims and selfish desires.
I accept the challenge, cherish the opportunity and I brace myself for the ride of my life. With God at my side and His Word in my hands we embark together because, "With God all things are possible."
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Owning Myself
I am reading a book called IT’S NOT MY FAULT by Dr.’s Henry Cloud and John Townsend. These two have also penned the well known book BOUNDARIES. It is not as you may think when you read the title! This book, and I am only on page 56, has dealt with the opposite of allowing me to blame it on someone else or think passively about my own actions. It has not just been an eye opener but more of a revelation and a wakeup call to my well crafted way of thinking that I am so excited to share bits and pieces of it with you!
The first chapter addresses owning my own life. It is not saying that I have the power to control my life but that I must own my actions, decisions, attitude and how I will walk the path God has given me. It opens with two girls suing McDonald’s because they were overweight! I remember this case. As if this company was responsible for shoving hamburgers down these two girls’ mouths and they were all but helpless to escape. Luckily they did not win in court, saving humanity and common sense from a disastrous outcome, at least for a little while.
It then addresses the foundational sin in Genesis 3:12-13. When God confronts Adam in the Garden of Eden and asks him why he ate the fruit God himself told Adam not to eat Adam blames Eve. Adam also has the audacity to even blame God by saying that it was the woman God gave him that led him, Adam, to sin. When God confronts Eve she blames the serpent. Neither one takes responsibility for their own action!
One last glimpse into the first chapter because I don’t want to give it all away. God has given us “creative choice”.
“God has delegated two things to you:
The ability to create and respond to life
The reality consequences of those choices
Often you cannot choose what happens to you. You cannot determine which cards you are dealt. But you can always do something:
You can always create, seek, and find a range of options to determine how you will respond to what happens, and how you will play the cards in your hand.”
Every time I have to put this book down I am charged with wanting to change something about myself, about my way of thinking. Chapter two deals with just that, learning to change your way of thinking!
The first chapter addresses owning my own life. It is not saying that I have the power to control my life but that I must own my actions, decisions, attitude and how I will walk the path God has given me. It opens with two girls suing McDonald’s because they were overweight! I remember this case. As if this company was responsible for shoving hamburgers down these two girls’ mouths and they were all but helpless to escape. Luckily they did not win in court, saving humanity and common sense from a disastrous outcome, at least for a little while.
It then addresses the foundational sin in Genesis 3:12-13. When God confronts Adam in the Garden of Eden and asks him why he ate the fruit God himself told Adam not to eat Adam blames Eve. Adam also has the audacity to even blame God by saying that it was the woman God gave him that led him, Adam, to sin. When God confronts Eve she blames the serpent. Neither one takes responsibility for their own action!
One last glimpse into the first chapter because I don’t want to give it all away. God has given us “creative choice”.
“God has delegated two things to you:
The ability to create and respond to life
The reality consequences of those choices
Often you cannot choose what happens to you. You cannot determine which cards you are dealt. But you can always do something:
You can always create, seek, and find a range of options to determine how you will respond to what happens, and how you will play the cards in your hand.”
Every time I have to put this book down I am charged with wanting to change something about myself, about my way of thinking. Chapter two deals with just that, learning to change your way of thinking!
Monday, March 26, 2012
My Short Take on Our Energy 'Crises'
I wrote this selection about a month ago after driving to work contemplating our energy ‘crises’.
Why do we maintain a dependency on foreign oil when we have resources right beneath us? Are we trying to save it for a rainy day? Well I might be inclined to say it’s pouring outside right now! We have oil, coal, and gas in our own country, right beneath our own soil and water. Instead of shipping it overseas why don’t we use it here? Subsidize with foreign oil not with our own. While we are using our own resources we should be devising ways to use renewable energy sources such as the powers of the wind, water and the sun.
Yes, the Gulf of Mexico oil leak was disastrous on its ecosystem and BP should be held accountable for the safety and techniques they use. Don’t prohibit drilling for the sake of the environment, revise, repair and continue. We must take care of our environment but we must also continue living as well.
Why do we maintain a dependency on foreign oil when we have resources right beneath us? Are we trying to save it for a rainy day? Well I might be inclined to say it’s pouring outside right now! We have oil, coal, and gas in our own country, right beneath our own soil and water. Instead of shipping it overseas why don’t we use it here? Subsidize with foreign oil not with our own. While we are using our own resources we should be devising ways to use renewable energy sources such as the powers of the wind, water and the sun.
Yes, the Gulf of Mexico oil leak was disastrous on its ecosystem and BP should be held accountable for the safety and techniques they use. Don’t prohibit drilling for the sake of the environment, revise, repair and continue. We must take care of our environment but we must also continue living as well.
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