Embracing the Uncomfortable

So we've got our goals written down, our mind pumped up, and the new year looks victorious! Then...we get leg cramps from going to the gym after a 5 month break, we come home from work exhausted and would rather drive through than eat the salad we diligently prepared ahead of time, and our word count is lacking for the day. The recliner looks better than the computer chair. UNCOMFORTABLE = QUIT!

Somebody posted a cute, and very true, snippet on Facebook last week. "It's time for my traditional January 1 through January 3rd diet." Something like that. I don't want to give up this year on my goals. I know you don't either. We have to face the fact that our pumped up drive and resolve will face the Enemy. 

Maybe we could look at UNCOMFORTABLE as our friend. He (let's make him a 'he', good looking, and our cheerleader, lol) gets us there, teaches us discipline, wants the best for us. Wait, that's Jesus! He's beautiful, encourages us with His Word, so wants the best for us. 

So I'm wrapping my arms around Uncomfortable. Are you with me? Normally I try to write about encouraging things, life through Love Colored Glasses. This is maybe a negative take on it, but it's where I am now.

Where are you? How do you fight the Uncomfortable?

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31

See Things Differently!

My little friend Peter clapped his hands with excitement as he talked to my husband. "Do you want to see what I'm going to wear to church tomorrow? I'm going to look so handsome!" And he did:)

Don't you wish we could get a little of that enthusiasm back, the kind we had as kids?  Everything was wonderful, exciting, and there was so much to look forward to.

The only real difference is that we stop expecting wonderment and awe. The tremendous joy of little everyday things disappears. It's all about how we look at life. We begin to magnify problems instead of solutions. We forget to be grateful and thankful.

I'm purposing to look through my love colored glasses and magnify the ONE who is in control, who works all things together for our good, who loves us so much He gave his life for us.

"Do you want to see what kind of day I'm going to have? It's going to be amazing!"

What are you looking at differently today?

I had a wonderful time talking about Washout Express at a Rotary club meeting last week. Such fun people! They were abuzz with plans for their fundraiser, the ever popular Cruise Party.  I'd never been to a Rotary gathering before. I absolutely love this from their Guiding Principles:

The Four-Way Test

The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships. The test has been translated into more than 100 languages, and Rotarians recite it at club meetings:
Of the things we think, say or do

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

and they added a 5th one at this meeting:

     5. Is it fun?

LOVE IT! That relates to my Love Colored Glasses platform so well, and mirrored the talk that I gave. 

I smiled as I drove back to work. Had to take a few minutes to sit and listen to the rain gracing my car.  Rain is an event where we live. We thank God for it.

So...what are you looking at differently today?

Which is yes.

I thank God for this most
amazing day;
for the leaping greenly
spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;
and for everything
which is natural, which is
infinite, which is yes.

e. e. cummings

2 Corinthians 1:20 
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

What YES are you looking for this week?

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

I share my birthday (Jan. 19) with Robert E. Lee, which is fun for me since my husband and I are Civil War buffs. I discovered today an author who shares her birthday with none other than Dr. Seuss! How cool is that? I hope you enjoy Mari LaVell's birthday poem as much as I did.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss (and me)

I like Dr Suess, I won’t tell a lie.

We share the same birthday, we’re tight him and I. 

A creative creature, a word maker is he

When I grow up, just like him I’ll be.

He has a funny way to make us all think

His thinker is funny, combined with some ink

But funnier still, ‘tween ink jot you read

Squeezed in by the tittle, you’ll see a great creed.

Go places, be someone,

Try something new.

Have a big heart.

Now that’s a good start.

Be a Who on a speck,

Save your people from heck.

Don’t think you’re too small,

Don’t think it at all.

There are things you can find,

If you don’t stay behind.

Think out of the box,

Be smart like a fox.

Here’s the moral that sticks in my heart when I read,

When my thinker has thunked, and I truly take heed:

God made only one you, with a purpose and plan

No one else can be you,  now isn’t that grand?

So with a tip of my hat, I’ll close with a smile,

As Seuss once said in his Seussian style:

 “Today you are You, that is truer than true.

There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord..." Jeremiah 29:11 



Take a look at Mari's wonderful website:  http://www.marilavell.com/

Do you have a favorite Dr. Seuss book or quote? I'd love to hear it:)

Now Hear This

I've been trying to record my One Thousand Gifts (onethousandgifts.com) on my iphone app. I am pondering what it means to really live fully, every moment, every second...I think it means engaging the senses moment by moment and connecting them to the heart. It is hard to block out the noise, the "have to" moments and pay attention. 


My family and friends know that I am hard of hearing. Oh, I hear everything, I just can't understand what people are saying unless they are looking at me. Today I am focussing on the gift of hearing, hearing with "love colored glasses".

What gift did you "hear" today?