My goodness! Where have I been here in blogging world?? I have not blogged nearly as often these past 6 weeks. I have been in the block of a busy time in my volunteer role as Women's Ministry Team Leader at our church. I really wanted for us to begin a seasonal evening Bible study. Last night was Week 6 of 6. I LOVED this. We have had our monthly Friday Night Cafe and that was still in place for two of the six weeks, with April's Cafe being our first ever "Coffee and Color" night which was AWESOME but did take some time for me to orchestrate. And let's not forget brunch for 220 on the first Saturday of May - this was our FIRST annual Mother Daughter Brunch. So things have been busy in this whole area with leading the team as we put together each of these enjoyable events.
As a mom who is currently homeschooling my two kids and also growing my Beachbody business and leading that team, life is FULL. Add in a couple of unexpected trips out of town during the past 3 weeks and this all adds up to less blog entries in recent days.
God has been teaching me some things during this weekly Bible study. Pictured below is the guide that we have been following. I HIGHLY recommend it! I don't want to turn this blog entry into a novel, but I am going to share below about this past week and what God has been speaking to my heart and the way that things have been coming together.
Last week we made a trip down to see my family for a few days so that I could attend a memorial service there in the area. A key figure from my growing-up years had passed away and it was time for the family from out of state to gather and rest his ashes in the family plot in a country cemetery. I was able to spend some time with his wife and the last time that I had seen them was at my wedding, nearly 10 years ago.
This morning I was driving
through some very foggy conditions as I made my way through some
unfamiliar woods. I was ALONE in the car as I was headed to a memorial
service and the kids were with my family. Time to pray and think! The
thing that I kept coming back to again and again is from Matthew 6:33 -
to seek first God's kingdom and his ways of right living and then
everything else comes into place. Focus set! I even started humming
that old melody to go with the lyrics. I haven't thought of that one in
years!
I returned from the service and had some MORE alone time to just pray and reflect. Mom had the kids with their cousins up at my sister's house in St. Marys. I walked around my parents' farm and prayed that I would settle in my sometimes anxious heart to SEEK HIM FIRST. To stop concerning myself with so many other things. I have always been a "doer", "go-getter" or whatever you want to call it. I think that this is in my blood. My husband is precise and particular but takes a more laid-back approach to his pace in life. We balance each other. I do have to remind myself not to strive too hard at times but to let God's peace fill me.
I walked around the farm and remembered something that He had spoken to my heart quite a few years ago. At the farm, there is an overflowing spring. It runs most of the year. At times the overflow will freeze up when in the coldest temps or dry up in the worst draught. But other than that, it is there and the horses drink freely from this little overflow stream. When the overflow is NOT running, look out! Time to pump the water from the well. Now the thing is electric, of course. But when we were younger, you had to prime the handle pump. And then pump and pump until you thought your arm may just fall off as you pumped water for 4-6 horses. OR if that well was frozen or too low, water would have to be carried from the house to the barn. Talk about a chore! Bottom line, water service from the overflow is SUCH A DIFFERENT dynamic than water that is pumped hard or carried far. The Lord had brought this illustration to me years ago and prompted me to remember to love and serve my children and others from the overflow of what HE is doing in my life, rather than what charity and goodwill I am able to dredge up and carry about and distribute on my own. When the overflow is running, your attitude is much different than when you are working so hard to pump and transport water and then a horse has the nerve to kick over a bucket! So many times as a mom, I have been in that same moment of feeling unappreciated by my kids!
** My daughter wanted to help me with this blog entry and made this image before bed this evening. She helped to find a google image with the verse and then put together some recent photos of us using picmonkey. :)
So I returned home from last week's trip and began reading my Bible study homework for the week and guess what kept coming up there?!!!? Matthew 6:33 and remembering to SEEK GOD FIRST and everything else comes into place. Sunday's study guide reading challenged us to "fast" in some area of our life as we walked in that spiritual discipline and leaned in to hear God more closely. I chose to take an 11 hour "FB-fast" that day and it was very good and needed and I will do it regularly. At church that morning, our pastor was talking about the sisters Mary and Martha. Here is the 35 minute message via YouTube. Umm... if you know anything about those two New Testament sisters, I am Martha. Pastor Mark challenged us to serve from the overflow. I was sitting there, rooted in the pew as all that the Lord had reminded me of three days prior was still very fresh. Serving from the overflow. And it is not like I have been hearing this everywhere lately or whatever!? Sometimes God just does that. The closing song is a favorite of mine and it was a sacred moment of dedicating all of this to HIM. Again, because sometimes we forget to life our eyes and look beyond the everyday routine and needs of life.
This week I have been very excited about a new chapter that I am entering in my coaching business. Things are going so well! Since beginning as a coach 14 months ago, it has certainly been good
for our household dynamics for me to have something to "do" that is my
own thing where I can work hard at it and see the progress. I pester my
husband less with my desire to see things happen! Not that I needed to
"add one more thing"! No thank you to any extra busy work without
purpose. Yikes! I didn't want to be working outside of the
home these past 14 months but I did want/need to work. I have goals
and plans and I am leading my team forward as we work together in
helping others to improve their own health and the health of their
families. I have found how much I enjoy the strategy planning business
discussions with my team and with my sister. I have always enjoyed math
and productivity... what can I say?
I returned from the service and had some MORE alone time to just pray and reflect. Mom had the kids with their cousins up at my sister's house in St. Marys. I walked around my parents' farm and prayed that I would settle in my sometimes anxious heart to SEEK HIM FIRST. To stop concerning myself with so many other things. I have always been a "doer", "go-getter" or whatever you want to call it. I think that this is in my blood. My husband is precise and particular but takes a more laid-back approach to his pace in life. We balance each other. I do have to remind myself not to strive too hard at times but to let God's peace fill me.
I walked around the farm and remembered something that He had spoken to my heart quite a few years ago. At the farm, there is an overflowing spring. It runs most of the year. At times the overflow will freeze up when in the coldest temps or dry up in the worst draught. But other than that, it is there and the horses drink freely from this little overflow stream. When the overflow is NOT running, look out! Time to pump the water from the well. Now the thing is electric, of course. But when we were younger, you had to prime the handle pump. And then pump and pump until you thought your arm may just fall off as you pumped water for 4-6 horses. OR if that well was frozen or too low, water would have to be carried from the house to the barn. Talk about a chore! Bottom line, water service from the overflow is SUCH A DIFFERENT dynamic than water that is pumped hard or carried far. The Lord had brought this illustration to me years ago and prompted me to remember to love and serve my children and others from the overflow of what HE is doing in my life, rather than what charity and goodwill I am able to dredge up and carry about and distribute on my own. When the overflow is running, your attitude is much different than when you are working so hard to pump and transport water and then a horse has the nerve to kick over a bucket! So many times as a mom, I have been in that same moment of feeling unappreciated by my kids!
** My daughter wanted to help me with this blog entry and made this image before bed this evening. She helped to find a google image with the verse and then put together some recent photos of us using picmonkey. :)
So I returned home from last week's trip and began reading my Bible study homework for the week and guess what kept coming up there?!!!? Matthew 6:33 and remembering to SEEK GOD FIRST and everything else comes into place. Sunday's study guide reading challenged us to "fast" in some area of our life as we walked in that spiritual discipline and leaned in to hear God more closely. I chose to take an 11 hour "FB-fast" that day and it was very good and needed and I will do it regularly. At church that morning, our pastor was talking about the sisters Mary and Martha. Here is the 35 minute message via YouTube. Umm... if you know anything about those two New Testament sisters, I am Martha. Pastor Mark challenged us to serve from the overflow. I was sitting there, rooted in the pew as all that the Lord had reminded me of three days prior was still very fresh. Serving from the overflow. And it is not like I have been hearing this everywhere lately or whatever!? Sometimes God just does that. The closing song is a favorite of mine and it was a sacred moment of dedicating all of this to HIM. Again, because sometimes we forget to life our eyes and look beyond the everyday routine and needs of life.
Here is part of what I had shared with my coaching team this morning:
God has been so faithful in our lives. He put something on my heart
last Thursday morning and I have been walking that out this week. I
will share more via blog.
But I know that everyone here may enjoy hearing something exciting in the meantime!
I have been just under a certain weekly income mark soooooooo many times! Lots of weeks almost there and I have been wanting to break that threshold! Anyways, I came home late last night from Bible study and then getting groceries. Beachbody had assigned me another new "Success Club Customer" which is what happens when you reach SC10 the month prior and are Emerald+ and Club member. You get these leads. Two of mine happened to fall within this week and one had ordered two bags of Shakeology and the other had ordered one bag last night. Surprise! Guess what!?!?!? $--- is what I opened up my online office to see for this week. What?? I had taken that old "best ever weekly" threshold and surpassed it by $130 dollars!
I am sharing this to encourage you. I have been coaching for 14 months now. I do average a total of 3-4 hours per day spent on my business. I have to be creative with how to make it work. But since I need to work to help support our household, I do. And the exciting part is that I am not locked into some small, dead-end, low-paying, part-time retail thing. We have the potential to take coaching and RUN with it. Be you. Work hard. Remember to have both heart and hustle. This takes time and you will be amazed at how it can all come together!
So that is a little bit about my week and how things have come together. God is faithful. He is weaving together the tapestry of our lives. Lift your eyes and reach out to find him. One of my very favorite Bible readings comes from the book of Acts, chapter 17 and says this (emphasis mine)...
22 So Paul, standing before the council,addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
Just sitting here this evening and writing this blog, I pulled in the song from Sunday by finding it on youtube. Following that, this one came on and I AM LOVING IT! I had never heard this acoustic twist on that song. Beautiful. This is my prayer.
I have been just under a certain weekly income mark soooooooo many times! Lots of weeks almost there and I have been wanting to break that threshold! Anyways, I came home late last night from Bible study and then getting groceries. Beachbody had assigned me another new "Success Club Customer" which is what happens when you reach SC10 the month prior and are Emerald+ and Club member. You get these leads. Two of mine happened to fall within this week and one had ordered two bags of Shakeology and the other had ordered one bag last night. Surprise! Guess what!?!?!? $--- is what I opened up my online office to see for this week. What?? I had taken that old "best ever weekly" threshold and surpassed it by $130 dollars!
I am sharing this to encourage you. I have been coaching for 14 months now. I do average a total of 3-4 hours per day spent on my business. I have to be creative with how to make it work. But since I need to work to help support our household, I do. And the exciting part is that I am not locked into some small, dead-end, low-paying, part-time retail thing. We have the potential to take coaching and RUN with it. Be you. Work hard. Remember to have both heart and hustle. This takes time and you will be amazed at how it can all come together!
So that is a little bit about my week and how things have come together. God is faithful. He is weaving together the tapestry of our lives. Lift your eyes and reach out to find him. One of my very favorite Bible readings comes from the book of Acts, chapter 17 and says this (emphasis mine)...
22 So Paul, standing before the council,addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
Just sitting here this evening and writing this blog, I pulled in the song from Sunday by finding it on youtube. Following that, this one came on and I AM LOVING IT! I had never heard this acoustic twist on that song. Beautiful. This is my prayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment