new fall's resolutions

It's (near) the start of a new day and I feel energized! The kids are playing/fighting upstairs, there's a load of laundry swishing itself to cleanliness and my coffee is hot. I have high hopes for the day. With this kind of energy, who knows what I might accomplish...

I have high hopes for the coming season too.

Yesterday as we drove home from a day by the lake, I asked Gavin if he had made any "new fall's" resolutions. Maybe this concept is weird to you, but I LOVE fall and I love the feeling of a fresh start, a new routine.

So why not resolve to do a few things differently? Why not take the time to prayerfully consider the ways the Lord might be calling for change?

Even though Fall is officially a few weeks away, I decided TODAY is the day to try out my new goals. So while the kids were busy setting up a fort in the girls' room, I pulled out my journal and Bible. I turned to the Psalms (always a great place for me to start!) and flipped to #144. I love the verse in there that says, "I will sing a new song, to you, O God;" The only problem was that as I listened to the kids fight, I couldn't focus. Plus, my mind was whirling with my many "to do" items for the day.

Help me focus on You, Lord.

My eyes drifted over to Psalm 145. It's all about the greatness of my God! I read it in the NIV, then felt compelled to read it in Cassidy's bible (International Children's Bible), so I read it out loud to the littles....in hopes of....something. I went back down to the computer and headed to my fave biblegateway.com to see how some other translations would say it.

As no surprise to me, the Ampified version is what impacted me the most! If I were one to embroider verses onto pillows, this would be one (though I've never seen a pillow with this many brackets....);

"Every day [with it's new reasons] I will bless You [affectionately and gratefully praise You]; yes, I will praise Your name forever and ever." Psalm 145:2

Yes, there are new reasons every day to be affectionate and grateful to the Lord. Some days it will be harder than others to find those reasons, I know it well, but if I can just keep looking, I know the Lord will be glad to show me more of His love and goodness.

something new

About a week and a half before we went to camp, Abbey got her ears pierced! We had talked about it for many months, but it always came down to the same thing:

she was too scared!

However, when I requested her presence for a quick trip to the mall, she decided today is the day!

We ran our errands first and ended up at Claires for the deed to be done. My only concern with getting it done that day was that we were going to be at camp for almost 3 weeks, and would that affect the healing process? The girl at the shop assured us that if Abbey was willing to clean the earrings after every time she went in the water, it should be fine.

"That's a big commitment, sweetie," I warned, "It could mean cleaning them up to 5 times a day!"

Abbey said she was ready and it was time - she would be responsible for taking care of them.

Minutes (and no tears!) later, she proudly walked through the mall with her sparkling new earrings!

I admire alot about my firstborn, but that day I marveled at her commitment. When she is ready - she has amazing follow-through!

Coming off several weeks at camp, I've had quite a bit of time to consider my relationship with the Lord, what it looks like now and what it could look like with some tweaks to my spiritual practices. I've made some decisions about how I'd like to take my walk to a higher level, a deeper connection.

I am ready.

Lead me, Lord, and I will follow.

I want the follow-though that I witness in Abbey. I praise God for her example to me - it's awesome that it can work that way!

"And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint." Galations 6:9 (Amplified Bible)

a work in progress

So yesterday I snuck out for an hour to "run some errands" (which my husband clearly understands as "window shop").

I popped into to FabricLand in a seemingly unending pursuit of material to use for a slipcover for my livingroom sofa. As I browsed the clearance bolts I found the CUTEST fabric for the chair in my rec room that is also in desperate need of a new cover.

The material has little roosters embroidered all over (which won't do a thing for my continuing insistance that I don't collect roosters!) and is trés french country!

I have a million things to do before camp, but I couldn't resist getting started on the cover.

I pinned and sewed...

pinned and sewed...

pinned and - whaaaa??? Oh yeah, I don't actually KNOW how to sew!

I know that will seem falsely humble as you're looking at the picture of my chair, but there are too many times that I get to a place that I have no clue how navigate the next stitches. It's sew frustrating! (bah-hahaha!)

On a separate (yet in my mind, completely related) note, today I attended the first day of sessions for the 2009 Leadership Summit. I wondered how "into" it I could get, considering it was a simul-cast, but was it powerful!

One speaker in particular spoke on Spiritual deadness/transformation based on the story of the Prodigal Son. It wasn't the first time I've heard this type of message, where they look more at the role of the Elder Son, but this time it was like it was just for me! He spoke of how to know if you are "the elder son" (check, check, check....) and why it separates you from the Father (hello, perfectionism, my old friend), and how to combat it! He described how to get to a deeper level of faith through repentance.

Repentance.

Not only for the wrong I do,

But for doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

Do I serve, obey and attempt to discipline my life in order to gain God's favour, thus putting Him into my tidy box and waiting for my "just" reward?

the right thing for the wrong reason.

There were so many other things that spoke into my heart and life that I had to repeatedly remind myself of my new motto-cum-blog title: a little bit more.

baby steps

small changes

bit by bit

Like my slipcover, I too am a work in progress - but thankfully my God knows exactly how to handle the next stitches in my heart; and what it will take to make my life in to what will hopefully one day become a lovely heirloom quilt. A legacy.

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6