Tangled Thoughts

I practice yarn therapy, especially when the weather turns chill like it has been.

It's October and already I'm starting too late I know. I look through my pattern books and feel that thril of knowing that this or that item would be perfect for a Christmas present. Let's face it, I should probably start this in spring. Or maybe January? Because with so many children, with so many people I love, I want to make something for everybody.

I spent the last couple of days in yarn aisles at craft stores. Does anyone beside me walk along sampling textures with outstretched fingers? It's a treat for the eyes and a place of dreams. Spotting that color that's just perfect and then rummaging through that mental rolodex trying to match yarn to pattern to person. Sometimes I think I should shop with my Annie's Attic catalog in hand because so few stores have the variety of patterns I crave. But even so, I remember and come home and order gleefully because this is the kind of matchmaking I love the most.

Yes therapy.

Because as I pick up my crochet hook the world falls away. I can take a deep breath and CREATE.

What do you love to create?

Does your life have meaning?

The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews

You matter.
You make a difference.
Your life has meaning.

Who of us doesn’t need to hear those words? In this charming book that is small in size, there’s a great big message. The author tells us gently and simply our lives have purpose. Beautifully illustrated, this book doesn’t take long to read but you’ll find yourself wanting to linger over the pictures, cherishing each image as you absorb each word of this important book.

Because yes, this book is important.

I read this book on one of those days where work was piling up on my desk and everything seemed to go wrong. It was a hurry up and get it done right now day and I was starting to question whether the small repetitive tasks that made up my workload had any impact at all.

I’m thankful that I pulled out this book with my lunch. I finished it quickly and then went back and read it again.

I matter.
I make a difference.
My life has meaning.

After finishing both lunch and book I was able to return to my work renewed, looking at each item on my desk with new eyes.

Sometimes the right thing said at the right moment can make all the difference in this world. This book did just that. Do yourself a favor and find a copy for yourself. You’ll be glad you did!

Fearless: Live Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado

This is one of those books that everyone needs to read. Everyone has fear at some point in their lives, whether it’s anxiety over a certain situation or worries about those things beyond our control. Max Lucado takes on those fears chapter by chapter in this amazing book, giving the scriptural answer to the fears we face.

What I appreciated most about this book was the fact that Mr. Lucado never once put the reader down for experiencing any of these fears. As a person prone to a bit of anxiety from time to time, I’ve been given the pat answer too many times of “Just don’t worry.” Instead he expressed understanding for feeling the way we do, alongside a gentle answer. As I read I felt my life sliding back into perspective, and learning indeed, to lay aside fear and focus again on the Savior who has taken away our need to be afraid.

This is indeed a book I would recommend strongly to anyone. Max Lucado has proven again to be an authority worth listening to, and a guide to the troubled Christian.

Surviving 2010? Prognosis Good!

Ah! Bliss! We’ve made it another year!

Perhaps you laugh at reading that. Quite honestly I laughed in writing it. But what better way to describe 2009 than a year of hanging on…for dear life sometimes…to my Father God, with eyes tightly closed.

Survival is a funny topic for a new year when so many goals out there look like plans to THRIVE. But quite honestly, sometimes all you can do is survive. And when you’ve got a family as…well…complex….as mine, perhaps you can understand why.

Oh, I know what I’m talking about. In my household alone we’ve got mental illness ranging from depression to anxiety to a short stop in the world of bi-polar. There are two children (we know of) on the autism spectrum and a little dyslexia on the youngest for good measure. Add to that some health complications: Fibromyalgia (mine) and diabetes (his) you've got more on your plate than you know what to do with.

Then add to that the usual bits and dabs into financial trouble (don’t we all have a touch of that right now) and there just plain not being ENOUGH hours in the day…oy, we might as well go back to bed and stay there until next year, hoping that it’s all going to go away somehow.

OK that’s not going to work. And besides, I’m a much more optimistic person than that.

After all, put of surviving is the realization that we are actually thriving simply because we're doing it. It just doesn’t look like everybody else’s definition of the word.

So this year is going to be good. I know that because God is still on his throne in heaven…and is also right here with me and you and everyone else. He’s got our backs…and a whole lot more besides.

Here’s to a Happy New Year…whatever it brings.

Question: What makes you optimistic about the New Year?

REVIEW: Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham

Is it possible to find Success during these economic times?

In the new book, “Find Your Strongest Life” by Marcus Buckingham, we learn success comes in living a life that’s STRONG, and that doesn’t always translate to money or power.

How do you define Strength?

Marcus teaches us to look at ourselves through new eyes as we examine some very basic truths. Quite simply, that there are moments in your life that leave you drained, while others energize. And it’s by examining those energizing moments – these STRONG MOMENTS, and understanding how to create them, that one finds true success.

I was skeptical as I sat down with this book. Still, I dedicated a week to the project, but found the book so easy to read that I devoured it in days. What followed was some heavy analysis of my life. By the time the week ended, I had a new course of action, and was excited about where I was going for the first time in months.

No, there haven’t been any miracles. But with the optimism that comes from reading about plenty of other women that found what they were looking for, I felt that I at leave have a chance. With a fresh mindset, and a new way of looking at the choices that confront us every day, I can honestly say I see a change. A good change. And so could you.

Living a strong life..now there’s true success. Ready to explore the possibilities?

Book Review: Daisy Chain

DAISY CHAIN

Defiance Texas Trilogy Book 1

By Mary DeMuth

Zondervan

978-310-27836-8

 

Long before Daisy Chance went missing, Jed Pepper knew that life was unpredictable.

Long before weeks passed without any word from his best friend, Jed Pepper knew life wasn’t fair.

Long before the final tragedy played out, Jed Pepper knew well that life didn’t give a person what they deserved.

But then Jed knew a lot of hard things about life by the time he’d reached the age of fourteen. But even knowing those things, Jed kept looking for the story to change, for the ending to play out different.

Jed Pepper never gave up hope.

In this poignant coming of age story we see the most horrific nightmare that can be imagined played out in just the first pages. A child goes missing, her last words coming back again and again to haunt the young boy who saw her last. “You’ll regret it.” The words hung on the air, and in the heart of the boy who stubbornly refused to give up home when everyone else did.

Jed Pepper’s life isn’t easy. Living in an abusive home, is it any wonder that he’s got a lot of questions about what God is really like…especially given the one hurting him is his preacher papa? But the one thing Jed does have is hope. And the fragile faith that maybe, just maybe, God cares about him after all.

This book will haunt you long after you turn the last page. The answers aren’t all there, and so leaves you hungry for the next book that’s sure to come. What we do have is this, a story about change. About second chances. And about God’s love shining in the darkest of places.

Don’t miss this one.  You’ll surely regret it if you do….

Just a little more....

This is short because I seem to have forgotten an essential item to survival: Knowing your limits.

All too often, especially when you've got an overwhelming list of work that needs doing the response is to "just get one more things done." I've been doing that "one more item" thing all night and now it's nearly 1am.

Health ought not to be sacrificed for a to - do list. So though I wanted to have a blog up and ready for you this morning, it's time to say enough.

I'm going to bed.

And you know what? I highly suspect you'll all still be here at a much more reasonable hour. 

What time do you quit work for the day?