Let go of worry and anxiety...

Casting the whole of your care

{all your anxieties,

all your worries,

all your concerns,

once and for all}

on Him,

for he cares for you

affectionately

and

cares

about you watchfully.

~1Peter 5:7 (AMP)

Something to think about…

Photo Credit:  Lori C. via Compfight
 

Note: This week I’m in Maine with amazing friends Kristi and Meredith.  There is no question that God brought us together.  Three women, from Texas, Ohio, and Maine, becoming such close, kindred spirits is truly nothing short of a God thing.  We’re having a blast, exploring Meredith’s home turf, and picking up some of the local lingo…     And now, back to your regularly scheduled Thought Provoking Thursday post:

For I know the plans I have for you…

~Jeremiah 29:11

God has a ‘wicked funny’ sense of humor.

His Plans are rarely what I expect or imagine.

I’m not sure why I’m still amazed when His Plans wildly exceed

anything I could have planned myself.

When I stop to think about the order and beauty of His Plans

(though they may be hidden in seemingly random chaos we cannot understand)…

I am humbled.

I am grateful.

I am blessed beyond measure.

Have you stopped to appreciate the intricate beauty of His Plans for you lately?

Something to think about…

Angela Cirrone Smith via Compfight

I’ve come to realize that there are certain myths

in life that we all buy into…

Here’s one:

“Normal…”

You know the one? 

Where you can’t wait until everything gets back to “normal”?

The one where you can’t wait to someday have a “normal” schedule?

Or get a “normal” amount of sleep at night?

Or have a “normal” you-fill-in-the-blank-whatever?

I realized what a myth this “normal” life is yesterday afternoon.  Last week was the first week of summer vacation for my boys, and my first week of summer schedule at work.  My boss is kind enough to let me adjust my schedule during the summer so I can still enjoy time with my boys.  He just wanted to know when it would start.  June 4th, I replied with confidence.  Then I had to come back 10 minutes later and explain, “Well, June 4th, but really it’s not going to be a normal week because the boys will be up here for sports camp, so I’ll work while they’re at camp, and that means it’ll be a totally crazy schedule this week.” *sigh*

The boys and I had a fun week last week, but I was looking forward to today starting our first “normal” week of summer.  Then I realized we’re volunteering each morning for a an hour with the Feed Our Kids mission.  Huh.  Okay, so not normal this week either.  Next week will be a “normal” week though!  Aaaaahhhh.  Finally!

Oh, wait.  The boys are going on vacation with Nana next week. 

NOT “normal” after all.

That’s when it hit me.

“Normal” is a myth.

Normal is a mirage that we all think is there, and we keep reaching for it, and just as soon as we think we’ve almost grasped it, it fizzles into thin air.

Why do we keep doing this to ourselves?  Measuring everything up against this standard of “normal” that almost never happens because life gets in the way, schedules get changed, someone gets sick, cars need repair… You name it.  The only thing that’s “normal” about life is that it’s always changing.  Just the second you think you’ve got it figured out, you don’t.

And that’s okay. 

It’s okay for life to be NOT normal

if you plan for life to be that way…

If you plan to be flexible and just try to enjoy the ride, then not normal is no problem.  The disillusionment only comes when we judge that crazy mixed up life against some mirage of a so-called “normal” life.

Take life as it comes.  Stop judging it against the mirage.

Life is good, even when the crazy sets in and threatens to overwhelm you.  Instead of reaching desparately for something that almost never happens, remember that the only thing that’s “normal” about life is that it’s always changing.

There’s a saying where I used to live: “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.  It will change.”

The same is true for life.  If things are so upside down that you feel like you’re just barely treading water, just hang on.  It’ll change before you know it. 

Something to think about…

It’s Monday again.

 
It’s end of the school year crazy too.  A crazy Monday + a week of mixed up schedules, extra activities, school plays, awards,  and wear silly socks to school days… Well, it’s all a little more overwhelming than it is motivating.  Time for a good quote to help us get the week started off right.
 

Where is your private chart leading you this week?

What opporunities will you embrace?

Are you taking time (even amid all the crazy) to stop, to think and plan?  Turn a crazy Monday in to a fabulous week by making time to pray and make sure the chart you’re following is the one meant for you, and not for someone else.

Be YOU this week.

And while you’re at it, make it a fabulous week!

Are you running this race called LIFE?

Or are you waiting on the sidelines

until conditions are perfect,

until the stars fall into alignment,

and everything looks easy and pretty?

It’s a choice.

Stop waiting.

Start living.

Life is like a marathon.

You will never feel prepared.  It’s scary.  It’s hard.

It takes discipline, perseverance, and a good attitude.

It’s easy to give up and wait on the sidelines for better conditions.

But if you wait, the race goes on, and you miss it.

So gear up, and push every ruptured tendon, broken foot,

overwhelmed, stressed-out, undertrained, overweight,

frazzled bit of you across the start line of life….

Start living.

Or wait on the sidelines and miss out on your life. 

Which do you choose?

This post is dedicated to my girls… The Strong Moms Marathon Relay team.  I’m so proud of you.  Next year, we kill the Half….together!  

Welcome to the new home of Thought Provoking Thursdays.

I’m honored to welcome all the lovely people from the Thought Provoking Thursdays linkup over at SomeGirlsWebsite.   When Michelle offered to pass on this big part of her blog, I was honored that she thought of me.  Then she went and wrote this beautiful, amazing post about it, and absolutely made me cry.  In fact, going back to add that link, looking over the pictures of our boys’ friendships ( & our friendship) just made me cry. Again.  Somegirl in real life is truly one of the most amazing people y’all might ever meet. I hope someday you all get a chance to chat with her face to face. She’s just as wonderful and thought provoking in person as she is on her blog.

To all Michelle’s Thought Provoking Thursday readers who might be dropping by, I’m here to say:

Welcome!!

I am so happy to have you here.  I have big shoes to fill, but I am up to the challenge.  If you’d like to get to know me a little better, you can read about me, or more about Intentional Me here.  You might also be interested in these recent posts: ‘How I Got My Blog Groove Back’ or ‘15 Little Words To Reduce Worry and Stay Positive’.

If you’re one of my readers and don’t know what Thought Provoking Thursdays are, it’s simple:

On Thursdays, we write something thought provoking.

If you have your own blog, you can join in the fun and link up something you have written.  Anything thought-provoking, challenging, encouraging, inspiring will do.  All that we ask is if you link up, please visit the post immediately before yours and leave an encouraging comment. Easy-peasy. The Link up will be here on Thursdays from now on.  Thank you, SomeGirl! 

Check back tomorrow to see what other GREAT posts have been linked up!   I can’t wait to get started and see what you all write!

I have a friend, who has long inspired me, even before we became friends.  She has 3 kids, all younger than mine, and was the chair of a local charity event, Relay for Life.  I was a new team captain, just getting some friends together for a night of fun and raising money to fight cancer.  I don’t know that we even had a real conversation that year.  But Aubrey? She inspired me…

We’ve since become good friends, we text or email daily, and try to get together for coffee or a walk when we can.

Wow, that’s so cool!

I should do that.

Do you want to write a book?

No, not really.

Well, then what DO you want to do?

I want my own line of t-shirts!

Aubrey is now creating her own line of sportswear.  It’s crazy awesome.  She had the idea in her head.  She told someone.  She contacted a graphic designer.  She’s got a logo now, and is working on the shirt designs. Does she rock or what?

Aubrey is a leader.

I am just learning  starting to embrace the idea, to claim: ‘I am a leader’. I’ve been hiding behind being quiet and introverted all my life, but I now accept I’ve always been a leader.  After senior year in high school, I went to a National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C.  I remember being so excited to go… but thinking it was such a joke that they thought I was a leader.  Or even a potential leader.   Now, 22 years later, I get it.  I can give a long list all the ways I’ve been a leader all along, going way back to high school. I didn’t see it for all those years. I wish someone had pointed this out to me.  (Maybe they did, and I was just too stubborn to accept it.)

I didn’t accept the role of leader, because my personality didn’t fit my idea of what a leader looks like.  Aubrey, I thought.  Now, she’s a leader. Strong. Outgoing. Talkative. Fun. Optimistic. Encouraging.   And she IS a leader. Those qualities, however, aren’t what make her a leader.  Recently, Michael Hyatt posted 12 Ways to Know if You Are A Leader.  Go read it, then come back. It will only take a minute.  I’ll wait.  :)

Did you notice? Nowhere on that list does it say you have to be extroverted, outgoing, or talkative.  Yeah, I noticed that too.  I also noticed I fit almost every single item on his list.  Even being introverted, quiet, and  reserved.  Huh.  How about that?

I‘ve been hiding behind being quiet.  Refusing to acknowledge that I’m a leader.  Well, no more.

I (quiet, calm, introverted me)…

I am a leader.

How about YOU?

Are you a leader? Do you have a dream?  Have you been hiding a part of yourself because you don’t fit the image in your head of the kind of person who fills that role, does that thing? Knock it off! If you have a dream, a desire, something so big it seems impossible… Go for it! (see #3 & #4 on Mr. Hyatt’s list).

Go for it!  Stop waiting. Start now.

What’s already there, beneath the surface, just waiting for you to claim and embrace it?

What matters most in your life?

Are you staying focused on those priorities?

Taking a little time to re-focus myself (and this blog) on living intentionally.  

This blog is called Intentional Me after all… 

Posts will resume on April 8th.

In the meantime, what can you do to re-focus yourself on your own priorities?

Procrastinate less.

DO more.

That’s one of the phrases I’ve been using to remind myself to get more done and waste less time.  My goal is to accomplish as much as I can while I have time to work, so I will have more time to chill out, relax and enjoy my family.  

However, after a month of remembering and forgetting and remembering and forgetting it… I decided I need a visual reminder to look at every day.  What I had in mind:  a cute Pinterest-style DIY dry erase board.  Have you seen one?  It’s just a picture frame with a pretty graphic inside and blank space below to write the things… lists, menu of the day, whatever.

Well, in reality, I took a small dry erase board I already owned, and did this:

Um.  Yeah.  So, NOT exactly what I had pictured in my mind. 

Ultimately, it came down to a choice.  I could have the every day visual reminder {and start today} to keep myself motivated and not vegging on the couch, ~OR~ I could wait until I had time to let my perfectionist self make the uber-cute Pinterest worthy version.  Which would be around the 12th of never.  (I know myself.  Either that, or I would spend a whole day doing the cute version, leaving behind a trail of destruction & undone chores. )   Used to be, I’d choose the fun/cute version.  I’m kind of proud to say I’ve let go of perfection enough to:  a) let this be good enough for now and b)  be willing to show you how crummy it looks, (but oh, it works so well! )  I can always make a cuter version at a later date when I have some extra time.

Now, each morning, I start with the blank slate:

I wanted to start this ‘Procrastinate less, DO more’ list for Simply Rebekkah’s challenge to make an insane goals list for the month.  One of my insane goals is to get the chore situation sorted out between me and the boys, and get into a better routine with it.  We started by making an insane list of all the stuff that needs done in each room. Then we each picked our choices:

My 2nd insane goal for February is to finish the quilt my mom and I are making for my oldest’s birthday.  It’s a memory quilt with all his favorite shirts from the last 10 years.  We’ve started it…but haven’t sewn any of it yet.  Did I mention that his birthday is only 5 weeks out?  Yeah. Told you it was an insane goal.

Finally, I’m combining the insane goals with the Stop Pinterest Procrastination project over at Overcoming Busy.  My ‘insane’ goal is to do at least one pinterest project a week, and I figured I might as well link it up over at Overcoming Busy.  I have about a dozen projects that I’ve done, but didn’t stop and take pictures along the way, so I had to do another one and get some pics of before and after.  I was inspired by a pin of cupcake wrappers from a post at Life Is Crazy Beautiful.Com:

My version:

For more about Rebekkah’s Insane Goals List, click here.

http://simplyrebekah.com/

How about you?

Have you done any Pinterest projects lately

or made any insane goals lists?

I’d love to hear about them!

Love takes action, effort, perseverance and patience.

What area of your life needs a little love right now? What needs some action, effort, perseverance and patience?

Let love lead you this week…