When you need to be mom to yourself

Linking up today with Five Minute Friday, wild and free writers writing on a prompt for five minutes straight, with no fancy edits. I'm linked up over at Kate Motaung's blog. Head on over to see what others have written on the prompt, "mom".


Several years ago, I began a quest, a journey, to wholeness and wholeheartedness.  Lots of physical symptoms were popping up in my body and life, alerting me to changes that must be made.

For the past seventeen years, I've been determined on this quest to be a mom to myself. That's right, regardless of the parents I had as a child, I realized I needed to be "mom" to the little child that was still residing inside of me, and always would be there..

I started slowly to

#1 realize she was there

#2 realize she needed me as an ally and friend and "parent"

#3 realize she needed healing

Several opportunities arose for me to help me on this journey. Counseling, yes. And also, an inner child healing ministry.

Sometimes, because of the healing I've received in the past 17 years and counting, I want to be a "mom" to the whole world (even though I KNOW that's not my job, but I can pray..)

And, you know what the mom in me wants to tell my biological kids and the "kids" of the whole world? (the kids inside us adults and the real kids!)

I want to reveal to them the secret of life indeed.

Life abundant.

Life healed and whole.

I believe this secret knowledge is available to everyone. But we must BELIEVE and SPEAK it over ourselves.

Here it is:

WE ARE 100% ACCEPTABLE AND LOVABLE JUST THE WAY WE ARE. 

 Thanks for stopping by today, friend! I hope this good news has helped you in some way. 

Blessings to you in abundance,

Anne

{Day 13}: journaling 101

I was eighteen when I started my first journal. Oh, I had written down other things before that, like starting two or three diaries and never finishing them.

Remember those, with the lock and key on them? Nope. Never could stick with those. 

Instead, I began journaling in earnest in my eighteenth year after going through a deep heartbreak.

I bought a 5 x 7 three ring binder. I found some blue quilted fabric with flowers on it in my mom's sewing stash, and some white eyelet trim. I covered that three ring binder by laying it out on the fabric and cutting carefully around it to make it fit just right. I sewed the eyelet lace and fabric around the binder by hand. 

My first journal. 

I made it mainly for writing my prayers and thoughts down. I wasn't told I "should" do this (then, I likely wouldn't have done it!), or that it would deepen my relationship with God or improve my mental health if I kept a journal. This was something that a little voice inside of me said would be a good idea. I've never looked back. 

Writing down prayers and thoughts has been a life-line for my soul. It's truly been a soul spa that I've turned to on a mostly daily basis to clear the soul clutter, pray or just sort out my feelings.

Often, just sitting down with pen and journal and writing out my emotions on a particular issue, the answer will somehow make itself known to me as I'm writing.  

It's like writing down my thoughts and feelings is the key that unlocks answers to my questions.  Often it is a great catalyst to problem solving.

Writing down my prayers helps me stay focused. It also provides a record of prayers, questions, and problems I needed answers to. I've been able to go back days, months, even years later and see how those things have been answered. And, thankfully, I've been able to see how I've grown and changed over the years as I've learned a few things. :)

Maybe you're saying to yourself, "I just can't journal. I've tried. It's not for me." Maybe, you're right. Maybe this isn't for you. 

What about writing down three things a day that you're grateful for? Even that is a spa for your soul as you take a few moments to focus on the good.

Thanks for joining me today, friends!

~Anne

Today is Day 13 of 31 Days of Soul Spas. I'm so glad you've joined me, or even if you're just popping in to see what this is all about, Welcome! You can head over to my first post in this series to get a list of all Soul Spa posts!

Writing for the month of October with a tribe of writers. We all picked our own topic and they can all be found over at write31days.com.

{Day 12}: faith for your soul

It would be a huge mistake for me to go through all month of Soul Spa posts and not tell you about the Best Soul Spa I've ever had, and it's been a life-long journey.

It began in second grade when I went with a friend to a girls Bible club. I was visiting that day, and the leaders explained to my group about God's love for us and how Jesus died on the cross for our sins and shortcomings. Even at the young age of 8 years old, I knew about Jesus because my parents had taken me to church since I was a little girl.

But, I'd never made my belief in Jesus a personal one. Somehow, I knew I needed to. I needed to receive Jesus' love for myself and tell Him I agreed with Him about the bad things I'd done or thought. (I'm sure the time I had "borrowed" my cousin's Barbie's outfit came to mind.)

That day in 2nd grade, I asked Jesus to come into my life, (my soul) and stay. I told Him I believed in His death on the cross for me. And, I also believed that He had risen from the dead (in real life) about two thousand years ago.

Life didn't magically become perfect for me. Following Jesus doesn't guarantee a perfect life, but it does guarantee He'll always be with us. Always.

I still experienced heartache and wounds. I knew in my heart I was never alone, though. That Jesus was always with me.

I can't even tell you how many times I've gone through a low spot, or even a storm in my life, where God has been with me, strengthening me and giving me grace to get through it. He's restored my broken heart countless times and helped me to forgive time and time again.

God restores my soul.
He satisfies my spiritual thirst and hunger with His love.

His promises are true and trustworthy.
He's proved it in my life over and over again.

Tomorrow, I'll share a way that I deepened my relationship with God when I was eighteen. And, I've never looked back.



Do you have a personal relationship with God? Would you like to?
Have you felt the restoration of soul that the scriptures in this post talk about?

I'd love to hear your story in the comments, or if you have any questions about this step of faith, please ask in the comments or write your email in the comments and I will help in any way I can.

Blessings and love to you, friends,

~Anne

Thanks for joining me for 31 Days of Soul Spas! Today is Day 12! Please go here to see a list of all the posts this month so far! 

This post is part of #write31days for the whole month of October. Check out write31days.com if you are interested to learn more!

{Day 3}: Solitude--the gift of being alone

I must have been only four or five. My little brother wasn't born till I was six, so I had lots of time to play alone. I played dolls, rummaging around for doll accessories in my "doll clothes box" on the floor of my closet. 

I climbed the cedar tree in my front yard, where the funnest places to sit were thankfully close to the ground where I was safe.

On the day I remember so vividly, though, I roamed out to the old, abandoned chicken house. Only a chicken house in years gone by, the wood now very darkened with age and some holes in the roof where sunlight would peek through. 

I stepped through the doorway into one of those dust filled sunbeams that felt like golden light. The dust particles hung in the air like lace curtains.

Coming from a wooden crate in the center of the chicken house, came the faintest sounds. I climbed up to peer over the edge of the wooden box to find my cat Priscilla looking up at me, surrounded by little mewing balls of fur. 

There they all were, nestled in a bed of straw in a warm, safe place, and I remember feeling like I'd just found the greatest secret treasure on earth. And because I was alone, it was my secret treasure!

I can't help but believe this scene would've played out very differently had I been with anyone else! This was a gift to me, to find my kitty and her babies all by myself.



Maybe I didn't mind playing alone because as an adult, I now know I'm an introvert and require fairly large chunks of time to be alone to recharge.

But, I also believe there are gifts to be found for our souls in solitude for all types of personalities. 

When we take time to be alone 

we can hear our thoughts (maybe this is scary, maybe not), 

we have space to think and dream.  

Our own personal white space.  

So, even if we thrive being in the presence of others, there are benefits, even if for brief periods of time to being alone.

I'm wondering, if we keep our eyes open, what treasures we could find for our souls in the gift of solitude?

Thanks for joining in on Day 3 of 31 Days of Soul Spas! I'm glad you're on this journey with me!  Please see Day 1 for a list of all 31 days of Soul Spa topics.

~Anne

31 Days of Soul Spas {Day 1}

I'm linking up with hundreds of bloggers for the month of October for #write31days. Come on over! There are tons of topics to choose from!

I'm not sure about you, but I've been weary lately. Even though I had a vacation at the start of September, I've felt like my soul needed a vacation, even after we got back!

Lots of things contribute to this, I'm sure. It's not just one single thing that makes my soul sound the alarm bell and yell--stop the merry-go-round! I want to get off!

I even got a pedicure last month. A spa for my feet. Soaking in the bubbling water, getting pampered, looking pretty in rose pink polish, my toes felt like they'd been on vacation for about one hour.

But, my soul was still waving the "hey, over here!" flag. My soul hadn't gotten into the bubbly, warm water to soak and renew. 

I decided my soul needed a series of small vacations--soul spas if you will.

Things like rest, play, solitude, balance and more. 

I'd love for you to join me this month, while we get 30 days of soul spas. Respite and renewal for the inner part of us that often doesn't get much attention.

I hope that by the end of October, we're all going to feel a little more relaxed, a little more joyful, and a lot like we've given our souls a bit of spa work. A bit of a mini vacation.

Ahhh...a soul spa. Doesn't that sound nice?


Thanks for joining me!!

Blessings to you as we journey on!

~Anne


This page will serve as the landing page for all 31 day posts.

Day 2: What is a soul anyway?

Day 3: Solitude--the gift of being alone.

Day 4: Write your story down

Day 5: allowing your soul time to transition

Day 6: do your soul a favor

Day 7: flexibility and persistence of soul

Day 8: Your creative soul {part 1}

Day 9: Your creative soul {part 2}

Day 10: Keeping a curious soul

Day 11: Soul space to remember the good

Day 12: Faith for your soul

Day 13: journaling 101