To the rest of the world, I was optimistic, the glass-half-full type of person. To me and mine, I was critical, honing in on what was wrong. I didn’t try to be this way…. I just was. Regretfully so! Which made me try all the harder to STOP being like this. No matter how much effort I used, breaking free from this pattern of thought/behavior seemed impossible. Perfectionism had its grip on me and it was like a vice! As a perfectionist, I tend to ignore the 99 good things and hyper-focus on the 1 bad thing. It affected not only me but my faith. Striving, worry, comparison, and discontentment marked my inner thought life. I felt like a failure to myself and to God. It seemed like I, we, lived in a constant state of neediness from Him. I almost felt embarrassed when I approached Continue Reading
Listing As an Act of Love
When I got engaged, the angels sang, Mom cried, Dad was relieved - “Finally, someone who can afford her!” (Thanks, Dad.) and I bragged to all who would listen: “Mark is a cross between Prince Charming and Jesus!” True story. I was a missionary at the time, and that line went in my newsletter to all my supporters. (They were relieved, too.) Then, I got married. Not that Mark wasn’t Jesus or Prince Charming. But we did think (before marriage) that we knew everything. And we did think (before marriage) that the other person was perfect and would love, perfectly. Well, well. What does this have to do with cultivating a heart of gratitude? Well, everything. One day while fuming over Mark’s non-Jesus-ness and where-did-that-charm-go-anyway, I knew I should call my friend, Deb. Now I knew Continue Reading
When Your Hopes and Dreams Need a Little CPR
I remember when my somedays were nothing more than a whisper, escaping lips in weary moments of diapers, dinners and drowsy, late night chores. For years they lay tucked beneath the layers of an all-consuming, “playing catch-up” life. But last night, as I began packing the first boxes of a home lived in for 22 years, all I wanted to hang onto were the yesterdays. Those long-awaiting somedays melted into the yearning for just one more yesterday. One more yesterday of little ones toddling from one toy to the next and sleepy eyes needing comforting from scary dreams. One more yesterday of sleepovers, pool parties and after-school play dates. Life is chocked full of changes. Some large, some small. But each change summons a new season of life. And each season offers a Continue Reading
5 Ways to Kickstart Your Hopes & Dreams
What if the most important thing our hopes and dreams need is a kickstart? I’ve mentioned in a previous post that after 22 years, we are selling our home. It’s something we’ve dreamed of for a decade, but with a large family and a rollercoaster economy, there was always something keeping us from listing it. Isn't that just the way it is when it comes to stepping into the one thing we really desire? By the time you read this, we’ll be packing the truck and changing zip codes. It’s not a huge location change, but it is a huge personal change. One that is very exciting because the market is good, and this positions us in a better financial standing for our future. One that’s scary because there’s a certain element of security and normal that is lost in letting go of what we hold Continue Reading