Letting Go by Changing Perspective

Hello my friends!
It's been awhile, I know.
Been busy with lots of changes this summer
and needed to take a little break from blogging.
I'm hoping I haven't lost all of 
my blogging buddies.

I'm hoping you are finding
 time to do all of the things that are
 important to you
 and have taken time to enjoy, 
 the in between parts, 
from the busyness of life.
If you are like me, you have to 
be intentional in planning
 to make sure 
you are balancing the busyness.


"RELEASE"
So getting back to what
 I've been learning about the
 "letting go" 
of what holds us
back from all God has planned for us.

I tell you what!  I had no idea how
 relevant choosing the
 word RELEASE
 as my 2014 word would be.
It seems there are lessons everyday for me 
as I watch for ways 
to throw off the extra baggage of 
letting go of things
  I don't need, but thought
I NEEDED!!
Do you find this to be true for you when 
 trying to be intentional
about watching
 for baggage you are carrying that
you really don't need?

This is where the kid in me always wants to

Stop.. Stand up and with arms spread wide, begin to sing 

at the top of my lungs..

.. ♫.. LET IT GO… ♫…LET IT GO….

(from the Disney movie, FROZEN)

and sing it until I believe it!! ☺

*¨*❤*¨*

I'd like to share with you about

something that happened in my life 

at the beginning of summer, without giving 

the details. 

(those are better left unsaid and as my own learning experience)

This way you can relate by making the details

fit whatever you are going through. 

This thing that happened just kind of

rocked my world in the grieving way. I had to 

make a tough choice that I wasn't expecting.

At first I thought the choice was about 

something I could control, so I began

figuring it out through my own

mindful process....you know the old

if I do this, but if I do that, or how can I 

do this so that the this I want will happen....

etc.. etc... etc... ha!

But I learned quickly that it 

wasn't something I could control...so

 it hurt a lot!

I will be honest,  for a day or so,  I let the victim 

mentality be my best friend- feeling sorry for 

myself..  grieving a loss that felt undeserved.

God then sent me a wise friend,  who after 

I told her I was feeling like Daniel in the Bible,

having to go into the Lion's Den,  she

responded.." Now Daniel, walk humbly and with God's peace.  Let Him do the heavy lifting. God will sort this all out."

I so needed reminded of that!

 His peace is such sweet peace, no matter

 what you are going through.

 All of a sudden,

I changed my perspective 

on everything that was happening. 

Instead of the victim mentality, I realized 

that God was orchestrating new plans for me...

...I just didn't know what they were yet.

I was excited about my future!!

I was no longer stressed over it all.  

I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God

was up to something good in my life

 and I could trust HIM 

and give up that control that

 was making me miserable.  

And you know what?

Within hours  (and I'm not exaggerating), 

those new and exciting things

 began happening in my life. 

And they are happenings 

that could only have come, because God put them in action.

"The freedom to actually be on an 

adventure with God becomes strangely

possible when you aren't pushing 

so hard for the package."

Paula Rinehart

If I had not Released

 that victim mentality by

changing my perspective instead to that of

"God was Orchestrating" something new

 and wonderful in my life,

 then I could have 

missed the great plans he was waiting 

to set in place for ME!!!

I know this was a long post and also overdue!

Thank you for bearing with me.

I hope it has been an encouragement

to you, especially if you need to 

Release something you really don't need.

Maybe, like me, all you need to do

is to change your Perspective!

Hugs,

“I waited patiently for the Lord;He turned to me and heard my cry.He lifted me out of the slimy pit,out of the mud and mire;he set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”Psalm 40:1-2

The Bittersweetness of this Day

It's bad when you've been so behind

 in putting up new posts on 

your blog that you re-post one

 you've already posted and written before.

I hope you will forgive me,

 but this post 

is in honor of my mother on Mother's Day.

And to all of you women who find Mother's Day  to 

be sad or bittersweet because you have lost your mother,

or maybe wished you had known them better or in a different way, etc...

I want you to know you are not alone. 

I understand and here is a heart hug from me. 

You may also find comfort in this special post that 

Lisa Jo Baker has penned on Lysa Terkeurst blog.
(just click on the title link in pink below)

Mother's Day for the Motherless Mother

It certainly touched me!

¨`*•¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`­­­*•.¸¸.••.¸¸.•¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`­­­*•.¸¸.••.¸¸.•¸.•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•

here is my original post from May 2013
A Beautiful HEART
(in honor of my mother)

I hope all of you mother's out there have a

very special Mother's Day tomorrow.

Mother's Day has always been a

bittersweet day for me in some 

ways.

I love being a mother

 to our beautiful inside and out

daughters, Jessica and Jaymie, who are 

now adult mothers themselves.

What a blessing God bestowed upon me to be given the 

blessing of being their momma.♥

They live states away from us now, 

so although I won't 

get to hug them in person and spend time 

with them tomorrow, they are forever

 a part of my HEART

 and I'm sending them my  hugs and kisses.

My own mother passed away 19 years ago,

 the day after my 39th birthday.

-my mother and father holding little ole' me-

My mother had the most beautiful smile

 and a kind heart.

When I was a little bitty girl, she would sing 

and do little dance moves as 

she cleaned the house. 

 I do remember how this would

 make me giggle

 and would put a smile in my heart.

I knew she loved me.

But in her mid-twenties, she developed a

mental illness disorder that changed 

her life in many ways.

I tear up now just thinking about the pain she endured

 and how the illness 

took her farther away from us.

 Doctors know so much more about this illness now

 and how to treat it, 

much more than they knew back then.

Families had very little knowledge

 and support on how

 to live with and  help their loved one through

 this illness at that time. 

mom and me (1957)

On Mother's Day especially, 

I always think

about the special things I remember about my mom, but

also wish I could have known her more 

on a deeper mother/daughter level

that the illness masked from

being 

all it could have been.

I'm so thankful for the time I did have

and for the times over the years

where the illness mask would

come down for a time

and her beautiful HEART 

would always shine through.

One day I will see her again in heaven

as the momma I remember, 
singing and dancing as she made me giggle.

Me, my 2 sisters and brother.

I'm the oldest in the back

with the too tight of a curly home permanent

my grandma gave me!

I don't know your mother story,

but I do know this....

whatever it is, be it wonderful, strained

or fair...that God can take

it, yes...all of it, and teach you good things

that will make you a better mother yourself. 

 He will use your life experiences,

 ( the good and  painful)

 to make you the person you are, the one

you want to be, when

you choose to allow him to help you.

I couldn't do it without him.

Love and Hugs,

Far Better Things Ahead Than What I Leave Behind

Well, this 2014 word I've chosen to work on this
year, as I told you in my last post, 
 is the word Release.
                                                                           
I'm hoping as you read my post and
future posts that
you too will find a cord of hope 
that will help you release things that
might be also holding you back 
from receiving the best 
that God has planned for you ahead.

Today I want to start with a biggie
myth that has tripped me up with it's lie
way too many times.

The Myth of the guaranteed right choice!

I like guarantees that I can count on.

I probably drive some sales people crazy

with all of the  questions I ask when

I'm trying to make sure I don't end up with

a mistake choice in purchasing something.

I'm sure you are like that also when it 

comes to big purchases

and it's 

the responsible way to be.

But in this path we take called

daily life,

we cannot tie it all up in a pretty bow

like we would a purchase.

Sometimes things happen that we 

didn't count on and that disappoint us

and they totally change our dreams and plans.

Then fear can set in

and cripple us from making 

new plans and having new dreams.

:｡✿*ﾟ‘ﾟ･✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ¨ﾟ✎･ ✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ¨ﾟ✎･✿.｡

I've been reading a great book by

author Paula Rinehart

called "Better Than Your Dreams".

Here is a passage from her book that really

spoke to me:

"Hidden behind most of our regrets is the myth of the guaranteed right choice - as though if we'd only done it right, the path would have been smooth.  There is a yellow-brick road, we think, and our job from birth is to find it."

"The search for guarantees can leave you cautious and tentative about nearly everything - always fearful that your next choice will prove (yet again) to be some kind of mistake you regret."

"I want to suggest that it's just these places in your experience where dreams and expectations don't work out - that you are being issued the invitation of your life.  Disappointment is, strangely enough, a doorway to the real adventure. It's the point where you start to leave behind most of your notions of how your story should read - and enter your relationship with God as a journey. A true journey, one that's wild and adventurous and not anywhere close to predictable."

Paul Rinehart..
.book Better Than Your Dreams

:｡✿*ﾟ‘ﾟ･✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ’ﾟ･✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ¨ﾟ✎･ ✿.｡.:* *.:｡✿*ﾟ¨ﾟ✎･✿.｡

 

 So this myth,

The Myth of the guaranteed right choice

is one of those things you and I 

need to release

 so we can move forward to

 better things ahead.

It will probably be a work in progress

in letting it go completely,

but God promises

 freedom, peace and adventure

along the way as we do.

I LOVE this song by J.J. Heller...

Listen and be hopeful..
oh and sing it at the top of your lungs
with me..  (it's one of those kind of songs!!)

Hugs,

"Release" and Move On in 2014

Finally figured out my

WORD to live by for 2014.

I didn't really want to use this word.

I continued to ignore the thoughts of it.

Just didn't feel like a pretty word..ya know?

But this theme kept showing up

and I realized it really is

something I need to pay attention to

and take care of. 

       "Release"

to set free

All so I can move on and

receive the BEST that God has

planned for me.

Are you anything like me and

in your mind sometimes

find that you

 re-hash and scold yourself  

over some past failures or mistakes?

(even if they happened years ago)

(even if to others, they aren't even considered mistakes)

Do you sometimes play 

the "woulda, coudla, shoulda" game

over and again in your head?

If so, I hope you will join me 

this year on my blog as I 

share how God is helping me

to Release

 this kind of thinking, 

and hopefully it will help you 

also to do the same.

It will be a work in progress,

but I already feel lighter.

As if  a burden

has been lifted off of me,

since releasing some of this

junky-stinkin' thinkin!

  

Friends,

I am excited to share this journey

with Y♥U....

and hope it will be an

encouragement in your life also.

♥

"When God created you, he knew exactly

what He was looking for..

YOU are what He came up with."

Brian Houston

Hugs to you all,

My Birthday Snowman Tradition

We are in the middle of a winter storm
 here in Indiana

and  my employer has cancelled
 work already for tomorrow.

They are calling for wind chill temperatures tonight and tomorrow

 of  30- 40 degrees below zero!!!! 

brrrrrrrrrrr¨.....

`*✲ ´*。.❄¨¯`*✲。So baby its COLD outside..¨¯`*✲ ´*。.❄¨¯`*✲。

I went outside this afternoon 

(while the temperatures were still mild)
to make a snowman.
Actually, 8 years ago, 
on my big five-O birthday,
I decided to build a snowman and to 
make it a tradition
every year to remind myself that I 
am NEVER TOO OLD to be a kid at heart
and to continue always putting
the all important and spontaneous
 FUN..FUN..FUN
 in my life.

“Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. 

Without it, life just doesn't taste good”.

 -Lucia Capocchion

I think sometimes we have to be intentional

about putting fun in our lives.

Sometimes we get so busy in this life

 that we forget to take time out

and let down and just enjoy for no reason.

I usually find that when I am extra stressed

 or feeling low on life,

it is usually because I have 

gone way too long
 without any playtime or fun.

When I do stop to do something silly or fun,

then my TO DO list seems so much easier.

And I usually have more energy too.

One of my 2014 wishes for you my friends,

is that you will add extra play

 and fun in your lives.

Life can be so serious, with all of the details

on our lists that need done

 or taken care of each day..each week.

Maybe together we can keep tabs

 on one another

and encourage each other

 to make special time

 for play and fun in our lives.


 “Sing to the Lord a new song;

 play skillfully, and SHOUT FOR JOY!!!”

Psalms 33:3

NOW  why don't you

 go out and build a snowman or 

something FUN like that!

HUGS,