Prayers!

A few prayers to get the through the next two days...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart 

and lean not on your own understanding;

 in all your ways acknowledge

him, and he will direct your paths. 

Proverbs 3:5-6

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Breathing Prayer

Take a deep breath and imagine that you are breathing in God’s Love.

Breathe in God’s love, and breathe out any tension or anxiety.

Breathe in God’s love, and breathe out fear.

Breathe in God’s love, and breathe out negativity.

Breathe in God’s love, and breathe out anger or resentment.

Breathe in God’s love, and breathe out worry.

Breathe in God’s love, and breathe out questions or doubts.

Breathe in God’s love, and breathe out judgmental attitudes.

Breathe in God's love, and breathe out anything in you that is not of God.

Now breathe quietly for a few minutes and imagine that God’s love is flowing through you

to every part of your body. Amen.

Advice from St. Francis de Sales

Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life;

Rather look to them with full hope that as they arise,

God, whose very own you are, will lead you safely through all things.

And when you cannot stand it, God will carry you in His arms.

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow;

The same everlasting Father who cares for you today

will take care of you today and every day.

He will either shield you from suffering or will give you

unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings. St. Francis de Sales

Fountain Meditation

This is the fountain outside the church belonging to the priest who married us.
We were meeting with him in 2012 when we snapped these photos. It was a beautiful day!

Lara Casey

Remember January 2013? Ya, me neither...

That month I posted a blog post titled 'Making Things Happen' (Part 1 found here, Part 2 here). I also started a pinterest board with inspirational words and photos to help me throughout the year. 

Following the wedding, honeymoon, and now the pregnancy I haven't visited this goal setting exercise much. 
However, I did come away with my 2013 vision which is: There is no right time to do the right thing.  Translation: JUST DO IT! I can confidently say this stuck with me, subconsciously, throughout the year and I've done a lot of "good for me" things that I am proud of and less of those things I'm not so proud of.

I'm writing today to share more about Lara Casey. I stumbled across her blog and just fell in love. It might have been a Holy Spirit moment she is a true positive influence in my life.

Things I love about Lara:

1. She is a spiritual woman who has a relationship with God...As she wrote throughout the years her blog began with her struggles in business and personal life. Her blog has since transitioned and she is constantly quoting the Bible, confident in her business and thriving in her personal life. The power of blogging!
2. She runs a magazine out of her home - her staff works upstairs and her garage turns into a loading dock once a month. See her office tour here
3. She never gives up: Read about how she wanted a URL that was used by another company and with persistence...I won't tell the end of the story. Be inspired here
4. She gardens here
5. She is all about motivation, organization and Making Things Happen! <-- that's a link to her very own conference in North Carolina...can I please attend?!?! It is VERY pricey because they only accept 70 participants. So TONS of one-on-one time with a personal life/business couch! 
6. She doesn't blog daily or even weekly - in October she posted 4 blog posts. I'm striving for once a week and beat myself up when I don't do it.  (Her posts are VERY long so I'm sure they take more than a few hours to write)
7. You can surround yourself with all things Lara Casey and motivation by visiting her shop full of FREE downloads and printables and some inexpensive luxurious prints such as:

This is the backdrop on my office computer
You can download one of her many desktop backgrounds on her website

"Done is Better than Perfect" as mentioned in previous blog posts, this is my new mantra. I am VERY productive with this saying in the back of my head. I was married in February and kept putting off changing my name. I couldn't decide if I wanted to keep my middle name or my madian name. I was stressed about the cost of all the paper work and the time I would spend away from work standing in line in a lovely government office. I finally bit the bullet and did my research. In the end, it's free to change you name (In your lifetime you get 10 free social security cards!). The office was incredibly efficient! With touch screen check-in and over 20 'tellers' I was in and out in 20 minutes. And in the end I got the name I wanted. I guess that was Done and Perfect. I'm extra thankful it's done before tax season and our son is born.

In closing I encourage you to do Lara's CHALLENGE. Step 1 in her challenge guides you through picking 3 action items for the day - just three things you want to get done. And then the three steps it will take you to get those done. I thought I could change my name in three steps and in one day, but that didn't happen. However I was able to JUST DO IT!

This week I'm on part 2: Where am I in control?

• I am in control in my car (is it clean? do I take care of it? do I have road rage?)
• I am in control at my home desk (is it clear and organized? Does it help me function? Here is where I pay bills, if I find myself behind on bills I know where the real mess is)
• I am in control at my office desk (is it organized? If I am out of the office can someone find what they are looking for? Does it help my efficiency at work?)
• I am in control in my bedroom -NOT LIKE THAT! (are my clothes in proper dressers and closets? How will I function in bed with a baby? Do I really need 10 books on my nightstand?!)
• I am in control of my e-mail inbox, my facebook, twitter and blogs (Is this a bunch of digital clutter? Am I distracted? What can I unsubscribe from or unfollow to help me spend time away from the screen? What can I start following that will help motivate me to be the Best Version of Myself?)

I'm using the Lara's FREE eBook found here to guide my journey. I've written and highlighted all over this workbook like it's a university final exam. I highly encourage you to at least read through step one - it WILL help you. 

If you haven't clicked on any of the links above you are doing yourself a disservice. Come on! Try something before the end of the year! If it works, make it your New Year's resolution!

High Heels!

I had a bad day

I had a bad day yesterday.  A total GRITS day.  It actually started the night before, I went to bed mad.  I went to bed mad because I needed to tell J something and I was putting it off.  Communication is our #1 priority, but for some reason I decided that this thing was really hard to say.

Then I woke up and every little thing was irritating me!  My hubby bought me a bottle of pinapple, orange and mango juice.  He said he had one and it was delicious and he wanted me to have one on my way to work. (sweet right?) I looked at the Nutritional Facts and was furious!  49g of sugar?!  How dare you give this to me!  See? Rediculously mad.

By the end of the day at work I had chewed off all my nails.  Now I have stubs.  I'm so sad!  My nails were perfect for my wedding.  I kept them long for months!  And this one day...I lose them all.

Everything was going wrong yesterday.  The bank lost the checks I ordered, so they are sending me more.  My student loan payment went through, so I have no money.  I texted J telling him I was in a bad mood and having a bad day.  His reply was that he was having a bad day too.  We vented a little to each other over text, but when I got home I lost it. 

This poor guy.  His life is so simple, his faith is so strong.  I feel like the biggest disappointment in his life.  Even though the night before, the day before yesterday he said out of the blue: "I'm just so lucky to have you".  Which of course I questioned: "what do you mean?"  "But what exactly did you mean?"  "Is this coming from something?"  "Why did you say that?"  Poor guy is going to learn to keep his mouth shut and I'll never hear those words again.  :(

See? A not good day.  So after we yell and scream and miss 6:30 mass (grr).  I tell him what I was holding back, which was nothing in the big picture of things.  We end up talking things out and get back to what IS important.  Remember this?  Remember Making Things Happen in 2013?  My motivation being: There is no right time to do the right thing. - always do the right thing Well I took that to heart too much and began stressing myself out on all the things I need to get done in order for life to be good.  Not perfect, just good.  But J reminded me that it's not worth it if it leads to such stress.  Obviously what I think is 'good', isn't.  It's stressing me out.  If God wanted me to have that 'good life' I think I need, it wouldn't be so hard to acheive.  But God only asks for what we have.  So I have everything I need to fulfill God's plan.  Ah ha!  I am not trying to fulfill God's plan.  I'm trying to fulfill MINE.  And that's why it is so stressful!  Because I don't know what I want/need.  I just need to let go and Let God.  Thank God for my husband!

I totally believe in Holy Spirit moments and following that conversation, the Holy Spirit checked in today.  Every morning on Facebook I am greeted by my favorite nun from college.  And every morning I read her reflection.  Today she said:

"Today's readings offer to us a reminder - following the law of God leads to life. Following God's will for ourselves and for our world leads to life in abundance. And what does that mean? This particular Gospel passage comes after the Beatitudes and before Jesus' explanation of going beyond the external practices. To put it simply, to love. God, who is Love itself, calls us to participate in the very life of God, which is to love.  Let us, then, strive to live by the law of love - today and each day."

 Now I'm on fire with letting go and letting God.  I couldn't help but revisit my Making Thing Happen 2013 Pinterest board and run across a few more pInspirational pins. 

In case you missed the Making Things Happen moment, visit LaraCasey and she'll guide you along.  There are a lot of pinterest boards dedicated to their 2013 Making Things Happen mission.  I found it so inspiring that many pins mentioned God.  According to the media (I try not to listen to), God is dead.  But there are children of God alive in this world.  If anything, THAT gave me courage to keep on keeping on. As Robert Frost says:

  Peace be with you,

We have no wine!

Sr. Lale sent me a link to this blog the other day.  The blog Canterbury Tales is written by Dr. Taylor Marshall.

Source: CatholicGag

I thought Sr. Lale was sending me this link because I'm a bride-to-be and this blog has to do with the Bible wedding.  Remember the wedding at Cana?  Jesus' first miracle? 

The wedding runs out of wine and Jesus' mother, Mary, tells the servants to "Do whatever He tells you" and Jesus tells the servants to serve from the water barrels, water that has been turned into wine. 

In his blog, Dr. Marshall tells us to remember this story when "life throws curve balls into your marriage".  He says "Of course, marriage is a great gift and full of joy. But what happens when the wine runs out and all you have is water?  Sometimes, you just have to turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary and say,

 "We have no wine. The joy has run out. All we have here is water. Please transform it!"

And guess what?  Jesus and Mary will do just that.  Catholics know Mary doesn't preform miracles, only Jesus can do that.  But when we pray to Mary she uses her motherly role in guiding us to the solution and challenging us to listen to Jesus. 

 

In the story Jesus turns barrels full of water into wine.  We must have the fullness of heart in order for Jesus to work within us.  If we are running on empty, spiritually, emotionally and mentally then Jesus can only change what we have.  We need to nourish ourselves so that He can completely nourish our souls.

As Dr. Marshall says: "The more water in the jugs, the more they can transform into wine."

 

Thank you Sr. Lale!

 

High Heels!

2013 Making Things Happen part 2

Hello again!

Let's talk goal setting for 2013 again.  Did you do the first part?  Do it before this next part, it won't take long.

And while I'm paraphrasing from Lara's blog, please go read her blog, she writes beautifully and explains everything very well.

She has a great point in this 2nd part: "I am not in control, God is." Meaning: don't beat yourself up if your list from part 1 was a lot of "wish I did" and not a lot of "I did".

Now Steps 4 - 6

STEP FOUR: What are the three biggest lessons you learned from what DID work?

1. If I do what I love I will get it done.
2. If I communicate with J (and others) on why I want/need to do something the decision doesn't feel like a burden, it feels like a community effort.
3. If I can't love myself, I won't see the love others have for me.

STEP FIVE: What are the three biggest things you learned from what DIDN'T work

These are not my answers, they are Lara Casey's and they are perfect.  Read them below or here on her blog (scroll down to below Step 5)

1. Worry and stress got you nowhere and just wasted a whole lot of time.

2. Busy is the opposite of happy. Too many projects spreads you thin. Slow down. Don't plan so much this year. Do less and do it very well, with great passion.

3. My favorite Bible verse: He who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. - James 4:17 Work hard at doing good always. Humble yourself. Give your authentic heart to the people right in front of you.

STEP SIX: What is your 2013 VISION

Lara asked herself these three questions (the answers are mine):

- Where do you want to be when you are 80? Surrounded by family and friends.  Proud of my children as they are serving as good citizens of the nation and the Church.  More calm and at peace than I am today. 

- Why do you do what you do? Because I don't have any tangible things to give.  I give what I can, my time (in prayer), my talent (in service and work) and my treasure (which is 10% of my measly paycheck).  And I give it all everyone in need.  Family, friends, the church, the poor, the stranger, etc. 

- What kind of life do you want to live this year?  I want to live this year as the best version of myself I can be. 

MY VISION FOR 2013: 
I cannot give what I do not have; I must pay down loans in order to share more with others. 
I cannot give what I do not have; I must pray for patience and compassion in order to give unconditional love to all. 
I cannot give what I do not have; must remain a Woman of God striving to be saint-like in order to find what the best version of myself is and I must begin sharing that best version immediately!

There is no right time to do the right thing. 

Standing above the crowd

Monday we were driving along the back country roads checking on the corn and cotton and we see our neighbor planted sunflowers! 

The field hadn't bloomed yet, except for this little guy.


He was saying "Hello! I'm ready to take on the world!  I'm standing above the crowd and I'm living life now not later!"  We passed him and I made the farmer turn around so I could take a picture.  This one flower said a lot to me that day.  I'm more motivated than ever! 

Bring on the world!

and my
High Heels!