Category: Faith

Sunday Encouragment

I have been enjoying the Cultivate What Matters – Write the Word Journals for over two years.  It is a simple journal that includes a passage of scripture to write out in your own handwriting and a place to journal your thoughts whether it be on the scripture or whatever may be on your heart that day.  I don’t use it every day but typically a few times a week is my current rhythm and I am often encouraged by the specific scripture that I turn to on a day that I need to hear it most.  Each journal is focused around a theme.  I have done the one on Cultivating Joy previously and am now working my way through the Cultivate Hope Journal.

As I opened my journal this morning the scripture that I turned to was most encouraging to me today – in the particular season I am in so I wanted to share with you as well.  The passage as the image above says is Philippians 4:6-7.  I have always treasured this passage as someone who in moments of anticipation can over-analyze a situation and become a bit anxious about the unknowns that may come.  Today as I am right in the midst of changing jobs and swinging back and forth from being very excited about this amazing opportunity to return to a group of people I so enjoyed working with for many years to a bit anxiousness about my new role and the changes associated with this move, I needed to hear this reminder and and encouragement.

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

So whether you are experiencing changes in life that have you a bit anxious or you have excitement and anticipation that has you uncertain, I encourage you to remember these words and be reminded like I was about the peace that God give us when we place our needs before him.

I hope you are enjoying these posts.  We will continue until the end of the month with daily posts but after the 16 Gifts for 16 Years focus, I will return to a post a week (with a few bonuses from time to time) going forward.

Here is a recap of the gifts for Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years plus the new one for today:

On the first day of Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years, I went back to where it all started with a Creative Memories product that I LOVE – one person can get the CM bookcloth album of your choosing for 50% off.  Available until claimed!

On the second day of Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years, I am reopening the 2020 Photo Fun Club until the end of the month for the 2 remaining spots in the 2020 Photo Fun Club PLUS for the first person who replies I am offering 1/2 off one of our upcoming 2020 Photo Fun Day – FULL day registrations. Message me if you wish to sign up and I will share the details or answer any further questions.

On the third day of Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years, I am offering to the first 2 people who respond, 10GB of Forever Storage for 1/2 off.

On the 4th day of Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years, I am offering Buy One Get One 50% off on those supplies you never want to run out of – Refill Pages with Protectors, Tape Runners, and Tape Runner Refills.  There is no limit on how many people can take advantage of this offer however all orders must be placed no later than Feb 29th and pick up at my home in Apex or at my next Photo Fun Day or Retreat.    Please use the form in the original post here!

On the 5th day of Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years, I want to help you get those family recipes or photos of your community gathered around the table scanned and digitized so you can share them too.  For the first 5 people who complete the form on the original post, I will offer you up to 16 of your favorite photos or recipes scanned with my next media conversion box for FREE.

On the 6th day of Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years, I want to keep the sharing theme going and share FREE shipping on any CM order over $50 placed before the end of the month.  All orders must be placed directly through me in the form on the original post (and not on my CM website) and picked up at my home in Apex or at one of my upcoming Photo Fun Days or Retreats in March or April.

On the 7th day of Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years, I will create your panel for you with Forever Design and Print and have it shipped straight to you for 50% off the retail price.  Take a peak at the Forever Design and Print options so you know what you might want me to create for you. To take advantage of this, please use the form on the original post

On the 8th day of Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years, Share a blog post & comment on the original posts with your favorite snow day activity and earn an entry into my $10 Starbucks drawing.  Drawing will include all entries as of Feb 29th at 5pm and must include a share AND a comment below.

On the 9th day of Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years, Join with fellow customers and when your online orders equal $200 or more in one day, I will a drawing for a $25 Gift Certificate.  Available with each CM and Forever orders.

On the 10th day of Elizabeth’s 16 Gifts for 16 years, Forever offers amazing printing of our photos as well as our completed projects.  Whether you are a traditional scrapbookerer or you do more digital projects, we all have a time when we need a few of our favorites printed.  We are keeping the magic number of 16 and I am offering the first 3 people who upload (up to 16) your favorite photos, I will have them printed for you with Forever for FREE and available at our next Photo Fun Day or retreat.  You will need to upload them directly to this album (16 Gifts for 16 years) so I can place the order.  Click the text highlighted in Blue and then you will see the upload button.  You will need to log in to your Forever account.  I am using Forever’s Collaborative Album feature for this collection point.  You do not need a permanent storage account to upload, just a free account.  If you are new to Forever and have not created an account before, please use this link first to create a FREE account first (Create a FREE Account here) and if you are not familiar with collaborative albums, I will be happy to share more.

What is Inspiring You?

Books, Podcast, Blogs – I never really thought I would be a writer and I guess that my go hand in hand with the fact that I have never been a big reader either.  Those that knew me in high school or growing up know the struggle I had to get through any required reading or writing assignment.  In college, I was thankful that my Engineering curriculum had minimal English Literature classes and so the amount of novels and heavy reading started to reduce.  That is not to say there wasn’t plenty of reading needed, but at least it was a little different.

It took years before I finally would pick up a book and read for fun.  I still didn’t do it often but I at least would grab a book when I would head on vacation or maybe a little bit in the evenings before bed.  I know some of you can’t imagine this but for me it was never enjoyable and honestly I am not a very fast reader so that probably is why I avoided it.  I would rather wait until the movie came out and typically it would before I would finish the book anyway.

In the last few years, I have started to embrace reading a bit more and finding books that I enjoy.  It is still typically only when I am on vacation or have enough down time where I can get lost in reading to get started with a book.  Once I am started I can pick it up and read it a little at at time to finish it.  It can still take months or even a year or more to finish a book by the time I have picked it up and put down so many times.  A few years ago I discovered a love for audio books and since then I am loving current books in a whole new way and finishing them before they are old news.  Last year I “read” 12 books through listening to them.  I also finished another two that I read in print version too!

In addition to audio books, I have also fallen in love with podcasts and discovering new ones that I can enjoy.  I have always known I was an auditory learner but this has been fun to embrace the technology and trends we have available to us and enjoy books and inspiration in new ways.  I will share some of my recent favorites but I would love to hear what books, podcast and even blogs you enjoy and find inspiring too.

A few recent favorites….

Several of these books led to podcasts I am following too so we will group them together.

Bob Goff has two books that I have really enjoyed in the last year (or last couple of years if I am honest).  I received the first Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World as a gift from my friend Lisa a couple of years ago.  I was thankful for the book at the time but as I shared above I am not a quick reader so it has taken a while to finish it.  I am so glad that I finally finished reading it earlier this year so I could fully appreciate the value of this gift.  All of the proceeds from sales from Bob’s book Love Does are donated to work he has in Uganda at the Restore International Leadership Academy. This book is a gift of inspirational short stories that will lift you up and encourage you to push forward to Love in more real ways everyday as well as to find the out of your mind ways to LOVE BIG too plus this book also continues giving through it’s sales to further one of those very stories as it invests in big ways in the lives of young people in Uganda.  In the mean time while I was slowly making my way through the print version of this book, I knew I was liking Bob’s spirit and grabbed Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People as an audio book as soon as it was available.  I was not disappointed with this one either.  Both of these books have challenged me to see people around me differently and look for ways to show love in my own unique way.  The fun thing about finding an author you start to enjoy is when you discover they have a podcast and you can continue following along that way.  Just this month I have finally checked out the Dream Big podcast and started listening to some of the recent episodes.  It is fun to hear stories referenced from the books and even people from our own area here in North Carolina.

In the last year, I have become intrigued with the Enneagram system.  It is an ancient personality type system that has a way of outlining just how many of us are wired and how we are motivated and react to those situations and circumstances around us.  I heard that the book The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron & Suzanne Stabile was a good place to start to learn a bit more about this so I added it to my list of audio books and enjoyed learning more.  As my sister and I have shared some books and podcast we are listening to, she shared about a podcast that she was enjoying that had a summer special on Enneagram and suggested I might enjoy it too.  I did and have since really enjoyed other episodes from Annie F Downs and her That Sounds Fun podcast.  Her EnneaSummer series was so fun to listen to in June.  She had friends of hers who were in each of the different categories join her over 9 episodes.  She would ask them to share answers to questions to prompt what their motivation or drivers were to responding in different ways.  As the listener you could hear how same response from different types might be for different reasons because of what motivates each of them.  We are all wired uniquely and understanding some of those motivators can help us relate to one another more effectively.

I have shared before about my love for Lara Casey’s book Cultivate What Matters.  Through following her and her recent blog and social media posts, I recently discovered a dear friend of her’s Nancy Ray.  She has a new podcast Work and Play with Nancy Ray.  What a fun title and what sweet nuggets she has been sharing each week about how to live fully awake and with purpose through transitions.  I am finding myself anxiously awaiting the post each Tuesday when a new one is added.

 

This list goes on but we will keep it to these couple for now.  I hope you will enjoy exploring a few new inspiring books or podcasts.  I would love to hear what is inspiring you too in the comments here or through e-mail or messages.

For those that know my sister, you will not be surprised to know that she and I think a lot a like and will be into similar things.  The funny thing to me was that I had drafted this post about my favorite books and podcasts for you all and check my social media to fine her blog post below shared.  You may find a few similarities here – we often share a few of our favorites with each other so it is no surprise that our lists have some authors in common.  

What I’ve Been Reading (Listening to) Lately…

 

Cultivating Joy & a New Routine

 

With a cup of coffee and a few moments of quiet, I have enjoyed many weekend mornings at my kitchen table with my Write the Word Journal and my thoughts.  It has been a little over a year and a half when I learned about these journals and got my first one from Cultivate what Matters. I have done Bible studies and other devotionals but there was something about this that was simple and the perfect fit for what I needed this time.  This has not been a daily journal or even a weekly journal but more of a simple way to center me with a passage of scripture that I would write out in my own handwriting and a place to journal: I am Grateful for… and what was On My Heart Today. It was only 2 simple pages so when I could carve away a few minutes on a day I didn’t have to hurry out the door, I would sit and complete one day’s entry.  This journal has been a place to record my thoughts, my heartaches, my celebrations, my struggles, my progress and even my dreams for what may come.  There is nothing magical about this little book but it has served as a very useful tool to carry me through a season of seeking and searching for the next step I would take with my career as well as the things that happen each and every day.

I have wrapped up my first journal, Cultivate Joy earlier this week.  I can’t wait to jump into the pages of my next one Cultivate Hope but before I place my Joy Journal on the shelf, I have flipped back through the pages one more time.  I am reminded that I had no idea what was ahead for me when I started this nor did I set a specific timeline or expectations for completing it but as the days and weeks have passed and my thoughts have been noted, it is interesting to see how God has taken this process and these 2 simple pages I have completed to help me nurture my faith and Cultivate a sense of Joy and Gratitude within the pages of this book.

As many of you are here visiting my blog regularly this summer with a photo focus, I offer this comparison to you.  What if you looked back on this summer from the other side – maybe it is early September, maybe it is at a gathering with family and friends over the holidays later in the year.  What if you could look back and see that the little steps you made in June, July and August with your photos have paid off.  What would that look like, would it be sharing the precious gift of a photo that you found and love and now can share it with the people you love?  Would it be a gift you share with a friend of a photo you took that has special meaning?  Would it be that you have cleared out that courner of the room or closet that has been cluttered with photos or project supplies and now you have room to enjoy this space again.

This too does not have to be a daily project, a weekly project or even a regular routine but I promise you when you take little steps forward, one and then the next, no matter how small you will be amazed when you look back at how far you have come when you add them together.  Each time I pulled out my Joy Journal, I spent only 15-20 minutes.  I can tell you the blessings that have come from that investment of time have been far greater than those minutes would suggest.

If you are following along with our Lighten the Load Photo Challenge, I hope you have picked your project, area, or focus.  If you have not yet, pop back over to the Welcome Post and be sure to share with me once you decide.  If you can’t decide where to start, please message me, comment below or reach out and I will be glad to help you with a starting point.

I will leave you with this additional thought from the Cultivate What Matter‘s team about Summer – are you ready to get in there and cultivate, prune and tend to what we need to so we can reap the rewards later?

Whether it is a photo goal or a personal goal, what can you spend 15-20 minutes on this week to make progress forward toward something you want to see done.

Turning the Page to a New Chapter

I am overdue on updating this blog and sharing how I am Seeing a Greater Purpose in my life, my career and my business.  I hope to jump back into this a bit more as time allows.  My blog posts may be short and sweet but hopefully they will share a glimpse into the things going on in my life and can be an encouragement to you.

 

The last few months I have been digging into what matters to me – what I really want to be doing, how to be more purposeful in my actions.  I had been in a season of feeling like I was in a rut or stuck with just going through the motions each day.  I am coming out of this season and this is largely from spending time doing some reflecting and intentional goal setting.  I am loving the fruits of this process.  I look forward to sharing a few other bits and pieces of this journey but the biggest area where this is showing up right now is with a BIG job change that I am making this month with my full time job.  I have worked in the same place for almost 14 years but when a new opportunity came along a couple of months ago, I had to dig deep and determine if it was the right time to make a change.  Since I had been spending time over the last 6 months evaluating what was important to me, this opportunity came at a strategic time for me.  I was ready to make a change, I knew that I needed to make a change, I just had to decide if I was brave enough to take that step.

 

As I am still in the process of turning the page over to this new chapter, I will share a few reflections I have had this week as I have wrapped up one job and prepare for the beginning of the next.  The friends I have at work have helped me celebrate this process well.  We have shed tears of sadness that we will not have each other in the day to day aspect of our lives but we have also celebrated that with change comes growth for many and we can find new ways to continue our friendships.  I love this photo that was captured at my Going Away Party and the story it tells.  My smile shows the joy and gratitude I felt that day and the name of the book I received Do More of What Makes You Feel Alive” is so very fitting for the season I am in.

 

 

I have been touched by many friends, longtime coworkers and colleagues who have been intentional during these last few weeks in connecting with me, sending me an e-mail, stopping by my office, going to lunch, offering to help me in my new role or writing out their thoughts in a card.  To hear that you are leaving a legacy with the work you have done, that you have inspired someone with your kindness and willingness to help when needed, that you have given someone strength to be brave in their own journey of being stuck – each of these are precious messages that I will treasure long after the cake is gone, the balloons fade and the new job starts.  I am a better person for relationships with the people who have crossed my path and experiences I have had these last 13 years, 9 months, 3 weeks and 6 days.

 

I am thankful for this journey I am on and look forward to seeing where this next chapter will take me.

Reflections while blow-drying my hair…

 

I find some of my best reflecting happens while I am getting ready in the morning, in particular while I am blow-drying my hair.  Maybe it is because most of the rest of my day is filled with ongoing demands pulling at me or distractions like my cell phone or the TV keeping my mind occupied or maybe it is the clutter around my office and home that constantly remind me of one more thing that is on my to-do list but hasn’t gotten done yet.  But whatever the reason is there is something about the lull of the hair dryer that helps me tune out the rest of the distractions and my mind is free to wander and reflect.  Some people talk about the things that keep them up at night and using the tool of keeping a pad of paper by the bed to jot down the thought so they can drift off to sleep.  I have learned that it is better for me to keep the pad of paper in my bathroom because that is where I need to jot down things that come up while I am getting ready.  I know that as soon as I walk out of the bathroom and leave my room, these things don’t come to mind again until maybe the next morning if then.

Today has been one of my favorite kind of days at the end of a long weekend at home with only a few commitments on my schedule, I didn’t have to be anywhere special this morning so I was late getting ready for the day.  Today is the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday and I watched part of the Interfaith Prayer Breakfast on TV and it was no surprise that Dr. King’s “I have a Dream” speech was referenced.  I memorized this speech when I was in school and there is quite a bit that I still remember and can recite along with them as it was read.  This weekend has also been filled with little projects around the house, straightening up, putting up the final Christmas decorations, continue to de-clutter the “stuff” that weighs me down, preparing for the week ahead.   So it is no surprise to me that as I am blow-drying my hair, my mind wanders to “I have a Dream…”.  I pause and think about what is it that I dream of today.  It is January and a great time to think of goals, dreams, and reflections on where you are and where you want to be.  Not to diminish or take away from the powerful message of Dr. King but over the next few blog post, I will share a few of my dreams and goals that have come through my reflections while blow-drying my hair.

 

I dream of the day that I have…

  • A clutter free home & life!
  • Time to have regular & meaningful visits with my friends and family!
  • Energy to be helpful to and present for those around me where there is a need!

 

I know that God uses these times of reflection – to speak to me, to nudge me, to encourage me and to challenge me.  What are your dreams and reflections?  When and where do you find your moment to hear the thoughts that are deep inside of you, the dreams and needs that God is nudging you to do something about.  Are you like me and need to get that pad of paper to jot them down so you don’t forget?   I look forward to sharing more reflection from my mornings in future blogs.

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

It is clearly time for a new blog post.  This fall I have continue to work on simplifying my life and improving my health.  I have enjoyed traveling, catching up with friends, visiting with family and lots of fun in between.  I hope to have a few post after the fact on some of that fun.  I have also updated the theme on my website so I hope you find this format to be easier to navigate and enjoy.

2015-11-29 15.20.36
Gold Glitter Poinsettia

As December has approached, I have wanted to be intentional about my preparations for Christmas this year – enjoying both the big and little things of all that the season brings.  Last year, I was stressed-out and overwhelmed around this time of the season and ultimately ended up sick most of December so I feel that I missed out on a lot of this most special time of celebration.  This year, I have worked for months to try and manage the stress and find a better balance to life as well as stay healthy.  It is a work in progress as my work load increases (like it does at this point every year) and colds seem to be hard to completely avoid from the people around me. But, here I sit this morning in the quiet, looking at a beautiful Christmas tree up and ready to decorate pausing to write this post.

I have already enjoyed a few special traditions to help with preparations.  Years ago, my mom started going to Homewood Nursery in Raleigh, NC to see their vast amount of poinsettias, unique types and colors.  She has enjoyed picking up these beautiful flowers for family, friends and coworkers each year.  A few years ago my sister and I got to join mom for the first time and experience this tradition – one that we try not to miss going forward.   This is part of what makes Christmas special for Mom and has become a great treat for our entire family.  We were able to visit Homewood on the weekend of their Open House where they have the largest supply of poinsettias.  They are all so beautiful and fun to look through as we pick the perfect one for our needs.  I picked up one for the office and one for the house.

A new tradition that I am trying this year is what has been called Picture Advent.  I learned about it through a facebook post from a friend.  It is a way to capture the preparations for the Christmas season with a photo a day.  You can choose to tie the post to key words and scriptures that lead us through the preparation for Christ birth.  I may not hit every day but I am already enjoying posting photos and plan to post photos throughout the month of December.  They may be serious moments or silly moments but each image reflects my preparations for Christmas.  Follow me on Instagram to see all my posts of #pictureadvent .

What traditions are you enjoying this season?  I would love to see your comments!

Finding Joy & Blessings on the Journey

I started on this journey to find a greater purpose with my time, my stuff, my money – my life.  I knew when I started that God has so much more in store for me that getting stuck in the rut of everyday life and allowing the demands of obligations, commitments and expectations to bring me down and consume me.  I knew that I had become overwhelmed the demands on me at work, within my family as well as my own expectations of what I should be doing and I needed to take a timeout and regroup!

2015-06-14 08.31.10
A view from one of my walks around the lake…

I am thankful for posts on blogs and Facebook that I read back in the fall that gave tips on how to “Simplify Life”.  I am thankful that it planted the seed I needed to have a desire to do something about how I was using my days and work on clearing out the things that don’t matter or are weighing me down so I can make room in my schedule, in my budget and with my energy to do the things I am truly passionate about.  I have discovered that I am like many others that have gotten to the point of being overwhelmed through many years of taking on more than I should, trying to please those around me, and stretching myself too thin.  I have learned that it will not be something that is changed quickly or easily which is why the “A Simple Year” online course has been a perfect way to start tackling it.  It is amazing how each small part of my life that I clear away the clutter from, I am finding such joy and blessings.

I started with clearing clutter in the house.  I always have loved clear counters, clear floors, clear desk and other clear surfaces.  It creates a sense of accomplishment for me and provides the area I need to work when a project comes up.  I also tackled my closet.  I went through all of my Fall and Winter clothes and only kept the ones in the closet that fit and that I loved wearing.  It made it so much easier to get up and going in the morning and find something to wear.  I tackled my schedule – since I had been so sick as I started this project and didn’t have energy to do much more than go to work, come home, fix dinner and go to bed, I allowed this drastic change to be my catalyst .  I only allowed the items back in my schedule that I truly had energy and time to do.  I limited dinner with friends to only once a week.  I kept weekend plans to a minimum so I actually had time to recharge.  I now don’t have to say I am too busy to do something because as my energy came back and I am able to do more, I have the spaces still available in my schedule.   There are still times when multiple commitments creep back in too close and too fast but the good thing about this overall mindset is that my upcoming weeks and months are not so jammed packed that I can’t adjust when they do.  I also have started looking for new things to explore – blogging, changing my eating and finding a healthier lifestyle.  Each one is only possible because I have cleared away some of the clutter that previously occupied my time.

Two scriptures that have become very meaningful to me recently are:

1 Corinthians 10:23 – “Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible but not everything is constructive.”

I know that I can do anything I want to do but doing everything at once is not beneficial or constructive, in fact it will wear me down and cause me not to be able to do the important things.

Hebrews 12:11 – “No discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful.  Later on however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Whether you are training for a big race or training for being better at this race of life, you need discipline to do what needs to be done each day and week so you can see the improvement along the way.  Each step of this journey may not be easy but staying the course and doing the little things along the way bring a great harvest in weeks and months to come.  Clearing the “clutter” months ago and keeping it clear have helped me be able to tackle new challenges today.  I wonder what fruit will come from the harvest in the next few months.

This morning I went for a walk  – part of my finding a healthier lifestyle and I love walking down by the lake in my neighborhood.  As I rounded the corner around the end of the lake, I realized that I had more bounce in my step and was not tired, so for the first time since moving here I decided to make a second lap and not just continue through the neighborhood streets.  I was overwhelmed with joy of what it meant to make a second lap around the lake – I had the time, the energy and the stamina to do it and loved the extra minutes on my walk.  It is moments like this that I know that the culmination of working on many areas of my life to find a simpler, more meaningful life this year are helping me see the fruits of that harvest.

 

Book Recommendation: The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst

I don’t read for pleasure very often but I have found that from time to time especially during vacation I can get lost in a book and really enjoy reading for fun.  I continue to love anything I read from Lysa Terkeurst so when her new book The Best Yes was shared on the radio, I was drawn to it because it hit on the very thing that I was struggling with, saying “Yes” too often because I dreaded saying “No” and disappointing someone.  Lysa has a way to hit right where I am.  I have been thinking a lot lately how I need to simplify my life so that I do not always answer that I am Busy out of reflex but that I am intentional with my time, saying Yes to the important things and freeing my schedule so that I can seek the Greater Purpose or Best Yes when God presents it to me.   I know that God works in the details of my life and I must be intentional with my next step so that I am ready for the road he is leading me down.

As Lysa says, “Instead of waiting for the time to get started to simply appear one day, we need to be intentional with scheduling it.”  I can’t wait for the right time to get started, I need to be intentional with each step so that my next yes, is not out of obligation and expectation from others but that I a choosing the path I am to be on.

Whether the thing that we feel is our Best Yes is large or small, we have to be intentional today with what we agree to do so that tomorrow we have room if the Best Yes is yet to be added to the schedule.

I have loved this book and would recommend that you also take a look at it too – especially if you are like me and often feel like you have to please those around you.