so it seems i am definitely NOT the only one who experiences the slow decline in excitement of a new venture. and it also seems like with most of us, i have found the answer to my own question... or rather have known the answer all along.
anything worth doing in life is not only worth doing well but worth the effort and CONSISTENCY of continuing to make happen.
Consistency is key... to most things in life. and as my wise father once said, 'the right thing is usually the harder thing, otherwise everyone would be doing the right thing'. so true so true. (side note: for all parents i highly suggest the book "do hard things" by Alex and Brett Harris is AWESOME).
when we follow those 'feelings' of excitement like i was questioning last night.. a lot of good things in life will get left behind. our feelings fail us, time and time again and as we all know they can change in the matter of a second. you could be having an awful day and someone can come along and say an encouraging word, surprise you with an unexpected gift, and then all of a sudden your awful day went to surprisingly wonderful.
a rather drastic example of this that i've shared time and time again, especially when our young adults group, past and present, have been hitting on the topic of relationships is this...
over the past 7 years joe and i have been married we've unfortunately watched the ol' divorce statistic reign true. we've sadly had to sit by and witness many friends and family go thru the rough emotional road to divorce. when diving into deep conversation with some of those individuals on the 'why, what happened' i found there to be a consistent response in several, "i love them but i'm not IN LOVE with them anymore". wow. when further questioning what "in love" meant to each i heard again in numerous ones, "you know, that butterfly feeling, those sparks, they're just not there" even further some said "i'm just not excited each night to see them walk thru the door". FEELINGS dictating a future that could have been SO different.
something i would admit to not only our young adults group but to those individuals walking thru that hard decision of divorce was/is this, "well what you described would mean i'm not IN LOVE with joe"! lol you may be thinking 'what how could you say that' but hear me out. i love joe, i CHOOSE to love him daily. no sparks don't fly everyday to where i'm on the edge of my seat anticipating him walking thru the door, or have those anxious butterflies stirring around in my stomach each evening as i know we're about to sit down and chat about our day, and i can vouch for him in that he would say the same. sure we have our moments, when we're setting out kid-free on a date or planning a nice weekend away, or even when i see him ministering to the hearts of others (his true calling), or times when he's playing or having a conversation with our three year old that just makes me smile, those are the Sparks Fly moments that remind me of the many reasons i CHOOSE to love him daily. i mean after all, when you grow older with someone you also grow more comfortable. even though they surprise you from time to time, it's the comfortable knowing them better than anyone else feeling that gets you thru all the typical normal long drawn out days that we experience.
so i guess i said all that to say this, FEELINGS should not dictate our future. feelings should not dictate whether or not we continue hitting the gym, waking before dawn to pray and seek out God, smile to a stranger when we pass by, study for that exam we need to pass full of questions we are sure are never going to affect our future.
CHOOSING to be CONSISTENT with things we Know and Find to be important and life changing, now that's the thing that makes all the difference!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
tell me the secret!
so i'm wondering... what's the secret?
have you ever gone thru phases of excitement over something only to find that over time it wears off? why is that? is it lack of motivation, inspiration, determination, a combination of all those and more?? i definitely have and i'm wondering why?
here's an example- about a year ago i stumbled across a book written by a coupon crazy mom (and I do mean stumbled because in no way would that have been a book i would have sought out). so i read it, i checked out her website, and the craze began. i bought a little plastic file to help me sort and organize my growing pile of coupons and i began what turned out to be a crazy adventure in saving money and grocery store hopping. BUUUT over time i lost that crazed interest i had and fell back into the ol' routine of buying what you need when you need it, for the most part. Why is that?? When and what is it that may have caused that excitement to drop?
I could go on and on with numerous examples of other areas but I will spare you details and just ask if you know what i mean? and if YOU HAVE THE SECRET of how NOT to lose that Please fill me in on what it is! I mean even God knew people would be this way because you can find in His word where He tells us to "Stir yourself up" not to rely on others for encouragement all the time. So if you have some "stirring" ideas please make me and others aware of what they may be!
I must add though... the BIG things in life I usually don't have problems with, but there are plenty of other small, could be beneficial, things that I would appreciate help in knowing what others do to keep it up?!
have you ever gone thru phases of excitement over something only to find that over time it wears off? why is that? is it lack of motivation, inspiration, determination, a combination of all those and more?? i definitely have and i'm wondering why?
here's an example- about a year ago i stumbled across a book written by a coupon crazy mom (and I do mean stumbled because in no way would that have been a book i would have sought out). so i read it, i checked out her website, and the craze began. i bought a little plastic file to help me sort and organize my growing pile of coupons and i began what turned out to be a crazy adventure in saving money and grocery store hopping. BUUUT over time i lost that crazed interest i had and fell back into the ol' routine of buying what you need when you need it, for the most part. Why is that?? When and what is it that may have caused that excitement to drop?
I could go on and on with numerous examples of other areas but I will spare you details and just ask if you know what i mean? and if YOU HAVE THE SECRET of how NOT to lose that Please fill me in on what it is! I mean even God knew people would be this way because you can find in His word where He tells us to "Stir yourself up" not to rely on others for encouragement all the time. So if you have some "stirring" ideas please make me and others aware of what they may be!
I must add though... the BIG things in life I usually don't have problems with, but there are plenty of other small, could be beneficial, things that I would appreciate help in knowing what others do to keep it up?!
Monday, February 7, 2011
losing control - on purpose
now that Our world knows we are expecting a new addition come august and that my sister and i have been busily trying to open a business i'm beginning to feel the Pressure! the pressure of Time that is. how often in life do we want things when we want them and find ourselves growing anxious if our desire isn't met in the timely fashion we desire?!? if you're anything like me... that can be quite often. i realize and acknowledge this and that's the first step to getting over it right? lol. one would like to think anyhow.
really what, or Who i should say, that helps me overcome my anxiousness is God. my goodness i would NOT know what to do without having Him to call upon (&talk with), daily, but especially during times like these. thankfully over the years i've learned there is Not Anything that you can't talk to the Lord about, from the 'uh-ohs' in life to the 'Help Me's (or help a friend/family member), right on down to the 'what should i do's?' there is No possible way i would know how to tackle life without having God at the center of it all.
so i guess as this new addition to our family comes as a Surprise to so many, i honestly must say it's come as somewhat of an even bigger surprise to me (yes i do know where babies come from =)! but that's right... my mind had begun the process of settling on the fact that my body was designed to give birth to one and our family would grow by means of adoption later down the road (still an awesome desire joe & i both would like to see happen one day). and the crazy thing about the mind is, you can really set it on something! lol. even as i watched the sonogram monitor last week at the dr.'s office, confirming our squiggly little baby is growing well and has a "very strong heartbeat", i still found myself looking at that screen as if i was watching it all happen for someone else.
blessed beyond belief and grateful that God is growing our family once more i still remind myself daily that Yes i'm actually pregnant again and an even bigger Yes God does know what He's doing and His timing is Perfect. my timing is well, more often differently played out in my head. lol. however i Must admit that the more i step back and 'lose control' and allow Him to take over my time... things Do Always turn out better. those same things don't always come easy though, and sometimes come along with trials and anxieties of their own, but they Do turn out better than i could have imagined in the end.
so as i take many deep breaths i remind myself that "All things work out for the good for those who Love the Lord" and that He does have "good plans for my future" (and for YOURS). i will try, like many of you, to not let the Big picture overwhelm me, to take things more often One day at a time, and to do my small part in this Great Big World more often with a smile on my face then an 'how am i going to pull this off' on my tongue!
really what, or Who i should say, that helps me overcome my anxiousness is God. my goodness i would NOT know what to do without having Him to call upon (&talk with), daily, but especially during times like these. thankfully over the years i've learned there is Not Anything that you can't talk to the Lord about, from the 'uh-ohs' in life to the 'Help Me's (or help a friend/family member), right on down to the 'what should i do's?' there is No possible way i would know how to tackle life without having God at the center of it all.
so i guess as this new addition to our family comes as a Surprise to so many, i honestly must say it's come as somewhat of an even bigger surprise to me (yes i do know where babies come from =)! but that's right... my mind had begun the process of settling on the fact that my body was designed to give birth to one and our family would grow by means of adoption later down the road (still an awesome desire joe & i both would like to see happen one day). and the crazy thing about the mind is, you can really set it on something! lol. even as i watched the sonogram monitor last week at the dr.'s office, confirming our squiggly little baby is growing well and has a "very strong heartbeat", i still found myself looking at that screen as if i was watching it all happen for someone else.
blessed beyond belief and grateful that God is growing our family once more i still remind myself daily that Yes i'm actually pregnant again and an even bigger Yes God does know what He's doing and His timing is Perfect. my timing is well, more often differently played out in my head. lol. however i Must admit that the more i step back and 'lose control' and allow Him to take over my time... things Do Always turn out better. those same things don't always come easy though, and sometimes come along with trials and anxieties of their own, but they Do turn out better than i could have imagined in the end.
so as i take many deep breaths i remind myself that "All things work out for the good for those who Love the Lord" and that He does have "good plans for my future" (and for YOURS). i will try, like many of you, to not let the Big picture overwhelm me, to take things more often One day at a time, and to do my small part in this Great Big World more often with a smile on my face then an 'how am i going to pull this off' on my tongue!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
getting started.... again!
so i've blogged before... and i've decided to blog again =) why? because i LOVE reading the blogs of many friends and even strangers (who other's have led me to read b/c of something inspirational) and i have been so blessed... so i am hoping to be the same to others by sharing bits and pieces of the Seasons in my life. actually i should more accurately say 'our life' since i'm definitely not alone on this journey! i am truly blessed to have a husband who loves me (who loves the Lord even more) and a son we are both just crazy about! as many of you parents know, children are definitely a blessing and bring not only love and joy into your life, but humor and humbleness as well =) i am honored to be a part of the growing circle of moms!
so for my opening blog i guess i really wanted to share a Thank You... to ALL of you who have blessed my life by sharing yours with others through writings and posts of your own (inspiring me to get back to blogging). may you continue to be so candid and inspire hope and inspiration and bring a little humor to the lives of others as well. after all we are 'over-come by our testimony' and life can definitely be like 'a box of chocolates' at times you really 'never know what you're gonna get'. so lets walk it out together... and try to enjoy the journey one Season at a time!
so for my opening blog i guess i really wanted to share a Thank You... to ALL of you who have blessed my life by sharing yours with others through writings and posts of your own (inspiring me to get back to blogging). may you continue to be so candid and inspire hope and inspiration and bring a little humor to the lives of others as well. after all we are 'over-come by our testimony' and life can definitely be like 'a box of chocolates' at times you really 'never know what you're gonna get'. so lets walk it out together... and try to enjoy the journey one Season at a time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)