On a February morning

Last year's flower stems quiver in the cold.

The bird bath is frozen over.

The still six-inch deep snow in the yard is now marked by bunny and bird tracks from the past few weeks.

Even when the outside temperature hovers near zero degrees, the birds are chirping.

How can this be?

Did their Creator create them with an innate happiness and contentment no matter their circumstances?

I can learn this.

The giant evergreen outside my front window stands strong in the winter wind, home to Black-capped Chickadees and squirrels who dare to chance the weather to visit our bird feeder.

No matter what goes on in my world, this nature world keeps a live tempo.

The sun rises and sets. 

Snows come.

Snow melts.

Birds fly and nest.

Oh, I so want to write of it, and more!

I want to write of nature.

I want to write of me and my world.

I want to write beauty.

I want to write.

I want to notice in order to write.

So, in order to someday write, I write it down now.

Maybe in the writing of it now, it will prepare me for writing then.

And, then.

Blessings to you,

~Anne

Linking up today with #TellHisStory and Coffee for your Heart, and Three Word Wednesday

It might not be what you thought

I was once absolutely SURE of what my God sized dream was! I would have put money on it. I was banking on it! 

Why, I don't know. Who can figure out God?
And, I cannot predict the future.

Three years ago I was busy, busy busy applying for a specific grad school out in Washington. Through a series of serendipitous events, I was sure that this specific school, this exact vocation was what God was leading me to do. 

I was wrong. And, then I fell kind of hard when it didn't happen.

Putting all my eggs in the "this is what God has told me to do" basket was a real let down when I found out I was carrying the wrong basket of eggs.

But, in hindsight (isn't it always 20/20?) I"ve been learning a few things. Here are six things I've learned about having a God-sized dream.

1.  Dreaming is one thing, but it might not turn out the way you thought it would.

I've had a long time dream to be a Counselor. The program I wanted to attend is for Counseling Psychology. Through events with my husband getting a much wanted change in his current job, and not finding a job in Washington, we decided to stay in Iowa. This meant, no school in Washington for me, and none for the foreseeable future either.

What could I do? First of all, I grieved the loss of that dream. It took awhile. That step is very important. It was truly a loss for me. 

Then, I began to be open to what God might want to do for and through me whilst staying in little ole' Iowa. Through my sister-in-law, I found out about Emotional Polarity Technique practitioner training in Indiana. After praying, I decided, this was something I could get excited about (eptworks.com). 

It wasn't exactly the dream I had for going to Washington to grad school, but it was in line with my dream. I want to help people heal emotionally. This is one way, a holistic-health-way, of helping people let go of unhealthy emotions. A win.

2. Having faith and being flexible are not mutually exclusive.

If it makes sense, it seems like I had more faith in my faith, than in what God wanted to do. As I said before, Who can figure out God? The good thing is, He does like to surprise His children. And, He loves us unconditionally. I can trust Him in that. And, I learned I needed to be flexible and filled with faith at the same time. That may seem unclear.

3. Have a dream, but keep it in open hands, not closed fists.

I wrote a post about this during the thick of my waiting. Better to keep a loose hold on things and people. This includes dreams.

4. Asking God what His dream is for you is a good idea! Then, listen.

This is a step I don't remember blatantly doing. I did a lot of praying. But, a lot of the praying was, "God, open the doors for me to do this thing."

5. Be willing to sit with ambiguity.

For two years, we looked for a job for my husband where the school was. We waited. It was hard. We had to live with not knowing what we were doing for a long time. I think that most of my growth happened during this hard waiting time. Don't despise waiting.

6. Your God-sized dream may not end up to be what you thought it would, but it will probably be better.

Sometimes I ask myself if I think that what I'm doing now is better than what I really wanted a couple of years ago. And, I have to say that yes, even though I'd love to go to grad school some day (and that is not out of the question), I know that where I'm at is right where God wants me. Right now.

I'm living the dream. I'm not waiting for it to happen someday. I'm living it right now.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, friend!
If you have a God-sized Dream, or are waiting on one, I'd love to hear from you in the comments!


Blessings to you!

~Anne

Linking up today with Coffee for Your Heart, Three Word Wednesday and #TellHisStory.

Sending good words

I am probably one of the most well-intentioned card senders you’ll ever meet. For the past two years I didn’t send out Christmas cards. I let myself off the hook, but it was hard because I really had it in my heart to send out well-wishes to my loved ones.

I’ve been meaning to send a thank you to someone in my life for over a year. My intentions are very, very good. But, intentions don’t have a pen and paper, do they? Intentions don’t drive the letter to the mailbox and get it sent after the stamp is in place, do they?

What about if we’re not even talking about the written word that we send? What about our thoughts? My thoughts?

What kinds of thoughts am I sending to myself and others every day?

Are they thoughts of kindness, loyalty and love? Or are my thoughts ones of harsh judgement and criticism?

I catch myself often going through the Rolodex of my mind and stopping on a judgmental thought. Thank heavens, I’m starting to see when I stop on one of those damaging thoughts, and going back. 

I go back and re-say the thing that I had said wrong in my mind. I say something like, 

“I send loving thoughts toward _____________. 

They are worthy of love.”

Just this last week, I took an ugly fall in a mall store. I was there to return some pajamas and buy some new ones. As I turned away from the cashier, I slipped on an invisible wet spot from melting snow and went down very hard. Hard enough to stun and hurt me.

What were my words to myself that day, and the following week?

I tried very carefully to make them compassionate words and not words that would leave not only my body feeling very sore, but my spirit, too.

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Thanks so much for stopping by today friend!

~Anne

LInking up today with other writers at Kate Motaung's place for Five Minute Friday. Stop by her place to see the description for this awesome free-writing community! Today's prompt is "send".

Also linking up with the lovelies at Coffee for Your Heart and #TellHisStory.

God's dimmer switch

Ever wonder why dawn and dusk come gradually and not all of a sudden?

Evening comes and the sun gradually sinks lower and lower on the horizon until it's hidden from our view for that day.

It's like the sun goes to sleep in our part of the world 

so we can, too.

Then, while we're fast asleep, the earth is turning, turning, turning until the sun starts to gradually come into our view again. 

Gradually showing more of herself to us in our corner of the world until she's in plain sight. She's giving us a full view of herself so bright we're told not to look directly at her brightness.

Why the gradual, slow sinking and rising?

Why didn't God decide at the beginning of time to make these transitions sudden, like a light switch being turned off and on? 

Instead, he made sunrise and sunset on a dimmer switch.

Slowly, 

gradually 

light rises and falls at the start and end of each day.

I wonder if he knew (because he made us after all) that our souls would need to keep up with our bodies.

Thanks for stopping by today, friend!

Blessings to you!

I'm linking up today with Coffee for Your Heart, Three Word Wednesday and #TellHisStory.