HEART'S CRY

Quitter, "Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job and Your Dream Job" by Jon Acuff is truly a book you must read!  The concepts are written into nuggets along a path for you to pick up and carry.   One minute you will find yourself just skipping along picking up rocks and then one comment will slug you between the eyes stopping you dead in your tracks. It is not a fluffy what you talk about, you bring about type of book nor was it full of heavy duty steps to take.   Instead of being a book that shoves the pendulum swinging wildly, it is a book that focuses on who you are and where you are. It will: rock your world, change your perspective, inspire, frustrate, encourage, challenge and bring you up short. Some of my favorite quotes: "Because I had discounted my dream.  I was afraid to give credence to those often frightening feelings that come with wanting something fervently.  The more we develop the muscle of doubt, the stron...

I woke up. Again. Alive for another hour.  Another day. Another morning to breathe a praise and a prayer. Another hug and a kiss as my husband leaves for another day at work. Another day to tell my boys that I love them and treasure them. I woke up. Again. Alive. Ready. I WOKE UP! What have I been thinking? I am living my dream!! My dream to be with my husband. My dream to love my kids. My dream to work for God. My dream to celebrate ALL of my large family. So tonight, I will dream.  I will dream of a small piece of land and a greenhouse for plants and one for young Mom's getting on their feet.  I'll dream of being debt free.  I'll dream of having my license and my Master's.  I'll dream of a home decked out for the holidays filled with kids.  Mine. And with God's Grace....Tomorrow I'll wake up and LIVE MY DREAM again!

Rest for the weary.  Have you noticed that weariness tends not to come from physical exertion?  I can mow and play in the dirt for hours and feel great, while 30 minutes of working on my "To Do List" leaves me weary. Have we so tried to have it all that we are actually having less and less? Pushing for more and more leaves us disengaged, exhausted, worn out and sick.   Our culture and its people in it are not well.   Our kids are bombarded with technology for 90% of their day.  They worry more about the score on a test then the character of their hearts.   Pressure from every direction leaves them feeling squeezed in a vice grip.  Pushed and pulled and worn thin.  Little ones are begging for attention from worn out adults between phone calls in the car while on the run. Yes, short term sacrifices are required to move forward in our goals.  However, if the pace we run our life is  24/7, then will we run awa...

When I can't sleep sometimes I think about what I will say to my future daughters.  I might have to offer an explanation.    While my boys will protect, serve, stand up for you, lead, love, believe in you, laugh with you and be faithful and loyal to you and will take you to church.   They will never minimize your strength or your intelligence and abilities and will encourage you to pursue your goals.  They will start your car when it is cold and will ALWAYS help carry in groceries. They might forget sometimes that girls still want someone to hold their hand and walk with them down the road dressed in weird costumes or dance in the rain.  I have tried to teach them to always say good-bye when someone leaves and come and greet you when you come in the door.  They believe you can do anything but might forget to tell you that or forget that you might need some reassurance once in a while.  However, they will never feel sorry for you!! ...

Barbs, Barriers and Burrs.  Those little or not so little enemies of our dreams have to be dealt with and defeated. Barbs begin this blurb.  Barbs as in barbed-wire.  Or barb as in the end of a fish hook that cruelly holds the mouth of its catch. Money, or rather my stupidity in managing it keeps me incarcerated.  Maybe not suddenly, but little by little it enslaves if I do n't get control of it.  Jon Acuff says, "Money will become a high-walled border around your dream if you don't control it.  It will limit what you can do and when you can do it, like a barbed-wire fence at a prison." (Quitter) Busting barriers is next .  Barriers can be those fortresses in our minds that have been built up over time from experiences and lies.   What if.  Should have.  If only.  By now.  I'm too old. Barriers are built up with blocks of doubt, excuses, cop outs, and justifying our own behaviors.  Barri...

I've been craving homemade breads lately.  Biscuits and cornbread...  Not good.  Not good at all.  It is all falling in line.   The signs are there.  I'm in trouble. Sleepiness, low energy and craving comfort food.  I'm "winterizing" as my friend said today.  My body and mind are going dormant.  Now if I could climb into a cave and pull a heavy coat over me and sleep for a few months...it would all be good. Forget "Low T."  I have "Low S."  Lack of sunshine syndrome.  It is amazing to me how attuned to nature's cycles I am.  Summer finds me hopping out of bed way before 5 and this time of year, I'm dragging myself out right now by 6!  It is settled.  I am ready to be a snow bird!

I've been glued to the radio, computer and t.v. yesterday and today, hoping for the best on the East Coast.   Maybe growing up isolated and at the mercy of severe weather has given me a different perspective, but my heart is broken. I want those affected by Sandy to know that people in the Midwest are praying for you.   While st epping out our front door and reaching out to you is not possible, I can send prayer and donations.   Convoy of Hope is at your door and I can support them. Stay safe.  And know that a neighbor in Nebraska is thinking about you this morning.