Click It! – The Challenge (Wk 19)

Have you found your SwEeT sPoT?  If you are still trying to figure that out, take a look at what “CliCks” for you.  Where do you seem to get good ReSuLts and in almost an UnCaNnY way things just work out for you?  It is sort of like jumping into a river and the CuRrEnT sweeping you downstream.  You may have to paddle a bit to stay on course, but there is an underlying FoRcE moving you forward.  Some people may refer to this as the stars aligning or just plain ‘ole luck, but I believe that finding your “sweet spot” will bring the FaVoR and pLeAsUrE of God in your life. When you find your “sweet spot” you find what God created you for and that brings God great DeLiGhT! 

Find that thing that “cLiCkS” for you, that thing that brings so much sAtisFacTion to your soul that you feel as though you get “lost” in the moment and where time stands still.  Because when you get to the point that you can “click it” it may be that you have found your TiCkiT! 

Robynn~

Trash to Treasure

SuMmerTime has always been my favorite time of year, and living in New Jersey I am able to spend lots of time at the beach.  I was probably around 8 years old when I found my first piece of sea glass and I immediately became a CollEctor.  Over the years I’ve found thousands of pieces: green, brown, clear, aqua, and my favorite…blue!  I love Guessing if my pieces came from sunken ships, old medicine bottles, or just garbage that made it into the sea. 

Too often we get CaughT uP in our day to day routines and neglect to make time for ourselves.  Collecting sea glass has become my way of taking time out to do something for MySelf that makes me hAppy.  Whether it is gardening, scrapbooking, photography, etc…set time aside for yourself and see what “trEaSures” are waiting for you to discover!

~Guest Writer, Robyn from New Jersey

You Are Who You Hang Around

If you want your life to head in a certain diRection, you’ll get the best results by surrounding yourself with people that “liVe” the life you are striving for.

My husband I have found that ImProving our marriage, finances, parenting or how we treat other people, is much eAsiEr when we hang out with friends that push us to improve in all of these areas. Our friends don’t necessarily have to talk about these things, but simply hanging around them and observing their acTioNs keep us in check!

Are you hanging out with people that help you become a better “YOU”?  Are you being a good exaMple to your friends?  The people you spend the most time with will refLeCt the direction of your life.  What diRecTion are you headed?

~Lara

All There

In this age of smart phones, Facebook, Twitter, and all the other distractions we deal with throughout our day it’s sometimes hard to “be all there” as exhorted by missionary/martyr Jim Elliot in his famous quote:

“Where ever you are, be all there.”

Where are you?

  • Home –“Be all there.”
  • Work – “Be all there.”
  • Prayer –“Be all there.”
  • In conversation with your child, friend, spouse, co-worker, associate, client, acquaintance – “Be all there.”
  • Church – “Be all there.”
  • Your Child’s Event – “Be all there.”
  • A Volunteer Meeting/Event – “Be all there.”
  • Dinner with friends or family – “Be all there.”

I think this is what is meant by savoring the moment.  It’s embracing life.  Because as we all know, life is short so be all there.

Robynn~

Change Your Family Tree

If you could cHanGe an area in your LiFe, what would it be?   Would it be your bad temper, financial decisions, work ethic, eating habits, etc.?

I listen to a radio talk show that occasionally talks about “changing your family tree”.   I’ve always loved this concept because we all have areas in our life that we would want to iMproVe or change.  The good news is that we have the power to do something about it!

If you feel like you are in a rut or don’t like the diRectioN your life is headed, take heart!  Make a diFFereNce for generations to come and begin working on your improving your family tree today!

~Lara

“Energizer Bunny” – The Challenge (Wk 18)

Still trying to find your “SwEeT sPoT”?  If so, take a look at what fuels you, not just what you love to do and what you are good at.  If what you are doing is making you feel drained and “spent”, chances are you haven’t found your “sweet spot”, at least not yet.   If so, take heart and KeEp LoOkInG!!  Your “sweet spot” will be a place you are EnErGiZeD and revitalized.  It will be a place that you are at the top of your game, a place where the creative juices just seem to flow.

When looking for your “sweet spot” think EnerGizEr BuNnY.  Nothing outlasts it and it keeps GoIng and gOiNg and GoiNg and gOinG….

Robynn~

FRAN

Nine years ago this month I lost a very close friend to cancer.  Her name was FrAn. 

I met Fran when I was in jr. high.  She moved to my small town of 300 people with her husband, BoB, who was our K-12 school’s superintendent.  They immediately became a part of our community and school.  Fran LoVeD people, music and God.  Actually, Fran just loved LiFe.  I have never met someone who was more PoSiTiVe and UpBeAt than Fran.

Due to budget cuts my senior year of high school, our music program was cut.  Fran stepped in and VoLuNtEeReD to be our vocal teacher.  She took our vocal class to music contest where we won 1+’s –  the highest score possible, not because we were incredible singers, but because we worked hard and were motivated to perform to the best of our ability for Fran.  Her love for music had RuBbEd Off on us.

The year I graduated from high school in South Dakota, Fran and her husband retired to a little resort island called “HoLiDaY IsLaNd” right outside of Eureka Springs, AK.  I was thrilled as my college plans were to attend college in Tulsa, OK, just 3 hours from Fran’s new home.  Bob and Fran extended the invitation for me to come visit them and I did so regularly.  In the course of 10 years I also took many of my FriEnDs along who, after a weekend with Bob and Fran, said they felt like they had known them all their life.  That was just the way they made you FeeL. 

Fran (and Bob) treated us like her own daughters.  She bought us “SwEeT PillS” a.k.a. pastries, made us delicious meals, let us drive their golf cart to the pool (a block away), swam with us, rented and watched chic flicks with us, washed our clothes, and had good heart-to-heart “girl talks” with us.  Sleeping-in was the norm and when we finally rose out of our room we were greeted with Fran saying, “GoOd MoRniNg MeRrY SuNsHiNe!” a phrase I now use every morning when my girls come down the stairs.

Although Fran had been diagnosed with cancer, maybe before I was even in high school, she had always been so positive and proactive in treating her disease, I never worried about it.  She always seemed to be the picture of HeAlTh.   

However, in 2001, when Bob passed away from prostate cancer I begin to notice she wasn’t quite the same.

On Friday of Memorial Day Weekend 2002, I received a call from Fran saying, the doctor’s had told her there was nothing more they could do.  She knew that she was in her final days and was at PeAcE.  A few days later I went to visit her to say  “good-bye”.  Less than two months later, I went to say my final “Good-Bye”.

Fran was an InSpiRing WoMaN.  She touched the lives of those who knew her. 

I hope I can make an ImPaCt on others like Fran made on me.

Robynn~

Fireproof your Marriage

Whether your marriage is rOck SoliD or needing a little work, there is a movie you Need to see. Fireproof is the B E S T movie I’ve watched when it comes to marriage.  The movie was given to us as a giFt and my husband and I watch it together at least once a year.  Each time we gain something new, and each time it puts a BooSt in our relationship with each other and God.

Have you had a dAte niGht in a while? Set aside a night this week and watch this movie with your spouse.   You won’t be disappointed!

~Lara

The Over-Rated “All”

I once heard a quote that said, “I would rather ShOoT for the StArS and HiT the MoOn, than shoot for nothing and hit it every time.”  Unfortunately, I can’t relate.  My natural tendency is to say, “Give me the stars or nothing at all, BaBy”  It’s insane, I know.  But I’m working on it. 

If you have the “All-Or-Nothing” mindset, you know what I’m talking about.  You actually believe that PeRfeCtiOn is pOsSiBle, so while the world is passing you by you aimlessly grasp for the air.  Could it be that American poet Wallace Stevens was on to something when he said, “The ImPerFeCt is our PaRaDiSe”?  One way I overcome this mindset is to think about all the bLeSsiNgS in my life that I would not have had things gone according to my plans. 

What pLeAsUrEs are unknowingly slipping right past you as you pursue an illusive “All”?

Many MoOns have passed without me getting to enjoy them, but not any more.  I’ve had the ReVeLaTiOn that “All” is OvErrAtEd.  I’ll still shoot for the stars, but if I miss them, I’ll take the moon, Thank-you. :)

Robynn~