eyes wide open: to a renewed spirit {day 31}

During the past 31 days, I've met some new bloggers. That has been really cool. Let me tell you, there are some great writers out there! 

This morning, I clicked into one link up at The Nester that I hadn't before. I have to say that God used Christina at The Frugal Homemaker to breathe new life into my motivation to clean, rearrange and decorate my home. At least for today! Thank you, Christina!

I used to be a person who loved to rearrange my furniture. Rearrange my accessories. I used to decorate my porch for each season. Sometime in the past few years, though, I think I lost some oomph to do many of those things. Oh, I've kept buying the Do It Yourself, Cottage Living and other decor magazines hoping to find that perfect idea that won't cost any money or energy, but will turn my house into Better Homes and Gardens perfect. But, I haven't had the mental or emotional energy to put any wind behind my sails. Too many other things in my life have been sapping that energy right out of me.

Today, after checking out The Frugal Homemaker, I got a little wind back in my decorating sails. She showed pics of how her kitchen looked after just weeding out all the stuff on her fridge and decluttering her counter tops! I said to myself, hey, I could do that. Then, I looked in my living room adjacent to the kitchen and it needed vacuuming. Being careful with my healing back, I thought, hey, I can just vaccuum. I put on Michael Buble station on Pandora and started to get to it. 

One thing led to another and I ended up moving a chair and side table to the opposite side of the room, putting the blue exercise ball in the basement where it belongs, throwing away several old Bible study folders, and making a new fangled arrangement for the side table. 

The only way to explain this burst of creative energy is that the Spirit of God blew some fresh wind in my sails. And, He used another blogger to do that. 

Now, because my room is clean and a bit rearranged, it's made me feel renewed and energized. I'm going to start tackling some of the other rooms this week. 

Thanks for keeping up with me this month! I'll keep posting, just probably at a bit slower pace. :)

see day 1 for a list of all 31 posts

eyes wide open: a diamond in the snow {day 30}

Several years ago I lost something very valuable to me.

We had gone to a flooring store that night. It was wintertime and in the winter my hands get so dry.  I took off my gloves and my wedding ring and set them in my lap to put on hand lotion. I got out of the car when we got there. Got back in the car when we were done looking. And, we drove home. I got the kids ready for bed. I was lying in bed about to fall asleep and I realized I wasn't wearing my wedding ring. gasp!

Then, I remembered that I had put lotion on my hands in the car. I turned to my husband who was about to drift off, and told him I don't have my wedding ring!  My gracious husband got out of bed on a cold night and drove back to the carpet store to see if he could possibly find it. And, I stayed home in bed and prayed. I knew God cared about my ring.

About twenty minutes passed and I heard the garage door go up. I was hoping he had good news. He came back to our bedroom and said that when he turned into the parking lot, now empty of everything except snow, he noticed the light from our headlights glinting off of something in the snow. That's right. My ring!  

It had been snowing the whole time since we had shopped there. A snow plow could have come and pushed my ring into a huge pile of snow. A car could have run over it. Someone could have stolen it. But no, it was right where I had dropped it. And, it was in perfect condition. Do you think God protected my ring?  

Have you lost something valuable? Do you feel lost?

God cares about even the little things. God specializes in finding lost things.

Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

see day 1 for a list of all 31 posts

eyes wide open: baptism, Batman and Elvis {days 27-29}

I wrote on Facebook today, Help! I've lost my motivation and I can't get up!  I know you know what I mean. I sat in my chair most of the morning reading different blog posts on my phone and drinking cup after cup of hot tea. I wrote a little, read a little, cried a little, felt guilty for sitting there a little. And then I kept sitting there. Sometimes, I need days like this. Especially after a high intensity weekend.

But, the weekend was filled full of abundance. 

Awesome teaching at the Alpha Holy Spirit retreat. Being "baptized" with a super-soaker by the pastor. Being prayed for by three different gals whom I had just met. And, that is just scratching the surface. 

My nephew's wedding and wedding dance provided more than a little joy. There was The Cupid Shuffle complete with batman masks. Dancing with my son. A conversation with my other son about renewed vision for his future in Forestry. Conversations with family and friends over booming bass.

We were told that we had to make a pitstop at the photo booth before we left the reception. I'm thinking, photo booth? So we go there and there is a brown backdrop taped to the wall and a table filled with different goofy hats, glasses, and other props. I made my hubby put on Elvis shades and a goofy hat. Can't wait to see how that turned out.

In between all of these things was the prevalent feeling of joy. I know God was there. God With Us. I saw him working in relationships that used to be broken but are now mended. I saw Him speak to people about His love for them. I saw Him at work in those around me.

I might be tired today, but I am full, and my life is full.

see day 1 for a list of all 31 posts

eyes wide open: nice cars and Jesus {day 26}

Aunt Esther (far right) and ladies out for a drive

More digging around in my closet and I run across these two treasures. I love these pictures because of the stories they tell. 

The tire cover in the top photo has the name Holdrege, Nebraska on it. This is the town that I grew up in. The license plate says 1934. This would have been fourteen years before my dad would come from Sweden to live with Uncle Carl and Aunt Esther. And twenty nine years before I entered the scene. 

Aunt Esther has her arm slung around her sister's shoulder in my post on {day 7}. This time, it looks like she's probably out on a Sunday afternoon drive with a couple of other ladies, maybe her sisters Anna and Louise. Pretty certain that Uncle Carl was their photographer and chauffeur. Aunt Esther never learned how to drive a car.

Uncle Carl and his car

I can't help but notice my Uncle Carl in this photo with (I'm pretty sure) the same car. I get a kick out of the way he is casually posing by it. No stuffed-shirt posing for this man! This pose says, Dig my new wheels?

Did you notice the "Jesus Saves" bumper sticker in the rear window? What a hoot. Bumper stickers in the 1930's? This tells me a couple things about my Great Aunt and Uncle.

1. They loved Jesus
2. They wanted to show Him off

I'm glad to know my Uncle Carl loved his car. I'm even more glad that he loved Jesus. 


see day 1 for a list of all 31 posts

eyes wide open: when a tree whispers {day 25}

When I was old enough I climbed in her branches. The sap from her bark would make my little hands sticky. That didn't matter. When I climbed up and up, but not up too far, I felt like I was on top of the world. 

Wind whispering in her enveloping branches, she held me. She held the birds, too. Looking back on it, she was really a God-sent friend to shelter me and give me hope and time to think and dream. 

Little me in front of the Cedar tree

She said I was safe. 

She said I was valuable. 

She said it was okay to be me.

She said it was okay to have fun. 

She said it was okay to enjoy being alone. 
She was enough.

With passing years, my delight in her branches would come to an end. I would miss her, and yet not be fully aware of what I was missing.

I thank God for my sheltering tree. God was there with the tree and me in those whispering branches. He breathed strength into my small self for all of the hard experiences I would have in the future. 

I look back and I see Him nodding His approving yes.

see day 1 for a list of all 31 posts

eyes wide open: the present moment {day 24}

I want to become a  better noticer of what is going on inside of me and around me. That was my quest at the beginning of this 31 days of blogging, but I'm not sure I'm really hitting on what I want to hit on yet. I want to live in the moment I am in. To become more present.

Last night my husband said, "C'mon, we're going to see the sunset." So we hop in the van for a drive to a lake that is not too far from our house. Saylorville Lake. 

As I sit here tonight, I'm thinking of all the things I noticed last night at the lake.

The mini-waves lapping at the beach.
The gorgeous round orange sun getting lazy and closer to the horizon.
The crying sea gulls gathering on the warm parking lot, maybe for the night?
Three sea gulls flying silhouetted between us and the sun. 
Sun shimmering over still water. 

I don't remember what we were talking about on the driveway after we got back, but I remember really looking at my husband's eyes when he was talking. I noticed how blue they were. And, he smiled and chuckled at something I said. He was genuinely happy. 

It was one of those rare times that I just really looked and my mind was with the looking. I wasn't  thinking of what I was going to say next. I was not thinking anything except for that very moment.

I want to do this more often.

Living in the present moment is to be fully aware of what is going on inside me and around me. I believe this is part of the abundant life that Jesus meant for me. To be a noticer. I'm going to keep practicing the Present Moment.

see day 1 for a list of all 31 posts

eyes wide open: President Truman and me {day 23}

I have an addiction. The librarians probably roll their eyes. My husband and daughter think I've gone mad. My prescription eyeglasses keep needing improvement. 

I have an addiction to books. 

I confess that I have too many. That I check out too many at a time from the library. I don't mean I've gone over the library's limit for number of books. I mean I've gone over a reasonable limit. A number of books that I can actually finish reading before we take off on another library or Half Price Books jaunt. 

The ottoman in front of my reading chair is always full of books. Right now on my ottoman I have  notebooks with lined paper,
journals (one already full and my current one to write in),
two Bibles,
library books,
devotional books,
pens and highlighters,
a Pottery Barn ad booklet that I haven't looked at yet
and the church bulletin from two weeks ago.
I can't seem to help myself.

I've tried to clean off my ottoman. Hubby says, why don't you clear that off so you can put your feet up? I reason to myself that I should. So I do. I clean it off. I put the library books back in the basket intended for them, my Bibles and other books on the shelf. But, by the next day, I have books littering the ottoman again. 

I do somewhat beat myself up for this. I am not a neat freak, and I'm over that one. But, this one little spot (you would think) would be easy to keep clean. Nope.

I've been trying hard to figure out why I want all of my reading and writing materials within an easy arms reach of where I'm sitting. All the time. 

Last spring my husband and I visited the Truman Presidential Library in Liberty, MO. I was so encouraged to find out that President Truman was an avid reader like me. And, he also had to have all his books piled up around his reading chair. It's true. 

We toured the Truman Home and right there in the study was his chair they said. And, just like it was when he was sitting there for real the books were piled high. I cannot tell you how validating that information was. That the President of our United States of America had a reading addiction like me. 

see day 1 for a list of all 31 posts