Put it Away!

Do you feel like you are getting swallowed in clutter? The mail that comes to the house on a daily basis is enough to overtake us. I thought there was a concern for the trees! If so, then why do they send out so much junk mail?

I am so visual that clutter makes me confused. It isn’t long until I start feeling overwhelmed and I don’t know why. The culprit is… clutter!

We have our house on the market, so we had to get it “showroom ready”. Not only does all clutter have to be removed, we even pared down the nick-nacks to give the house a clean, sparse look. It was a lot of work, but once it was done I got used to it and liked it.

The feeling of having more space in my house seemed to also be related to a lack of clutter in my head.

Since it has not been high season for house hunting, the clutter has begun to creep back in. Those ugly piles have been forming all over the house. The closets and drawers, and the garage, have been playing mean tricks on me and getting messy again.

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Let’s Wake up and Pay Attention

Sometimes, (okay, more often than I’d like to admit), I am guilty of not being fully present in a conversation.

Someone is talking, at home, on the phone, at work, and I am “multitasking” and I hear the sounds of their voice, I’m focusing on what they are saying and the other thing I am doing. Or am I really focusing on either one?

When it involves people, be it our family, co-workers, the cashier at the counter (who is a real person) – do I end up treating them like another task on my list to do?

There is damage being done with our multitasking. The cost may be higher than we think.

There is a difference of “being with” and “being with and fully present” with a person. The results of the latter can be amazing. Read more…

Facing the Giants

The Patriots are about to face the Giants this weekend. Yeah Super Bowl! Our family is sooo excited.

But – this is not a sport post – even though it IS about facing the giants.

What is your giant?

Every one of us face the giants. At some level we face doing something that stretches us, scares us, perhaps intimidates us, and ultimately causes us to grow.

There are a lot of “Giants” that present themselves to us in life. I think most, if not all, giants are rooted in fear.

I remember a season when the “giants” showed up in the mailbox… the bills we could not figure out how to pay. I would put them in a drawer. But they would talk to me.

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I Got What I Prayed For

How many times have we prayed for a dream or desire of our heart only to begrudge the time, energy and focus the answer now consumes!

This post from Christine Caine reminded me to notice how often I am guilty of neglecting to appreciate the very things that are the “answers to my prayers.”

Once I “conqueror”, it now has to be maintained. And that is work! Whether it is the job, the marriage, the children, the house, the pets, the recreational toys, etc.

This is a great reminder.

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Wedding Shoes

Our wedding day was amazing. After it was done I said, “That was so fun I want to do it all over again.” There are so many memories I have of this wonderful time. Here’s one of them.

My sister, Lynn, and my mother had come for the week.

Lynn still needed a pair of shoes for the wedding. This was important since she was the maid of honor. She didn’t mention it till Thursday, when, now, the pace of life had really escalated. I mean, we had just been to the mall earlier in the week. She could have brought up that need then.

Lynn decided to ride my antique beach bike to Wal-Mart and get a pair of shoes. I’m thinking, “Wal-Mart? Really? In the August heat of Oklahoma?”

Wrong on so many levels! Read more…