TRUE CONFESSION: On Being Distracted….

Posted on by Mary

DistractedAre you distracted? I know I am. I have been distracted for as long as I can remember. Think I’m exaggerating ?Ask my mom….NO JOKE. Homework in the afternoon after school I’d rather be doing a million other things besides that! Or how about my teachers, or you could just look at the comments on my report cards. I probably could have been diagnosed with ADD, matter of fact I bet I could pass the test for adult ADD, or As I like to refer to it as ADOS – Attention Deficit, OHHHH Shiny- Thanks Mark Hall from Casting Crowns (see his testimony for more explanation)

Oh wait what were we talking about? Oh right, DISTRACTIONS!

I even get distracted from sleep..no seriously, IT JUST HAPPENED. I have planned into my time here at camp for naps. One a day. Every day. I set my alarm because then I won’t sleep too long, and I really want to sleep at night. Anyway in order to actually hear my alarm I have to have the sound turned up. I keep my sound turned down for both services and while I write and read…BECAUSE IT DISTRACTS ME! It keeps me from getting the things done I need or want to accomplish. I don’t need to jump at every ding, or dong….BUT today I was so close to being sound asleep then I heard the ding. SCARED ME TO DEATH! I tried my best to ignore it, but I. Just. Couldn’t. Do. It. So I grabbed my phone.

Voicemail.

Listened to it.

“Try again”

Yep that is all it said. “TRY AGAIN” I didn’t recognize the number, it was out of state. GRRRR. And when I jolt out of sleep there is just no going back so here I am.

Writing.

Something I LOVE to do.

But in all honesty this isn’t exactly the type of distraction I want to talk to you about. It actually happened in my reading Yesterday I was reading The Battle Plan for Prayer by Stephen and Alex Kendrick. and They made a statement that left me with my mouth gaping open. “no Church program, religious event, political effort or humanitarian cause can trump the awesome power of what God can do in the response to the prayers of his people.” Now this struck a much deeper chord with me and Im going to take this a little deeper than they did. So let’s ask this question…..what is the opposite of distraction?

Continue reading “TRUE CONFESSION: On Being Distracted….” →

True Confession: On the Noises Inside My Head

Posted on by Mary

TRUE COFESSIONNotice how In that title of true confession I didn’t say VOICES…but then again sometimes the noises in my head sound a whole lot like voices…..the voices of my children, my hubby , the clients at the pregnancy center, my friends, my family, the newscast anchorman, advertisements, authors, teachers, pastors (oh wait that is my hubby) and let’s add my voice in there too. My voice that reminds me of that mile long to-do list, the needing to find such and such that has been missing for 3 weeks, books to read, notes to send, kids to feed….and the list goes on and on and on. and lets be honest MY VOICE tends to show up at 10:05 as I lay my head down to sleep, or at 4:30(Wednesday and Thursday mornings) OR like last Friday morning 3:30.It really never ends. Just as we scratch one thing off, another three jump onto the page. We keep moving.

Well I’m writing aren’t you impressed. It has been quite a while. Do you want to know how I can write?

  1. I’m not home
  2. I have no kids with me..only Rosie Our chocolate labradoodle. She doesn’t say a word…unless I leave her to go to the service, then she makes a most pitiful sound comes out of her body. She really isn’t used to the camper yet.
  3. I’m an introvert, so I have avoided human connection as much as possible and can count on one hand the amount of times I have been on social media in the last 36 hours.

The funny thing is, this is my second year taking this respite time away. My husband has made me. Last year was HARD. This year not so much. When hubby left early yesterday morning with our two youngest, I stood in the camper, stunned by the silence. Not just the external silence but the internal silence as well. THERE WERE NO NOISES. What is this strange phenomenon???

Last year I found myself putting out fires and I was on a rigorous posting schedule for a conference I was working on the team of. This year there is nothing…NOT ONE THING nagging at me to get done. Well except for my reading list.

There is one more voice though…..it is small and quiet and even though it is such, it tugs at my heart far greater that all the others combined and sadly enough because it is not “dire” enough it can often get pushed off until “LATER”.

Continue reading “True Confession: On the Noises Inside My Head” →

Book Review: Unstuffed By Ruth Soukup

Posted on by Mary

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Author Ruth Soukup is best known for her Brand Living Well Spending Less.  She has written both a book and a blog titled by the same name. She is skilled at being organized and is very honest and open about the struggles she faces.  In her new book Unstuffed, Ruth skillfully encourages the art of literally become unstuffed…in our homes, in our minds and in our bodies…Oh and in our schedules too! Have you ever felt as though you had no room…your house is stuffed to the gills…Have you ever said….”If only I had one more closet”? Or…..”I wish I had more time BUT I”M just so BUSY?” OUCH!!!  Then this book is just for you. Ruth Takes ou step by step through the unstuffing, if you will , with a book jam packed full of practical ideas, including a one weekend whole unstuffing event….. laid out in half hour schedule.   This book is riddled with thought provoking questions that really force you to think about why you do what you do…. why you keep the things that you keep.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gave me some great ideas and spurred me on to make some great decisions. I cleaned out my closet and got rid of 3 white garbage bags full of cloths I haven’t worn in a LONG time. It also encouraged me to again take a look at things cluttering my schedule. To consider what I like to do and what fits within my purpose… yeah lets just say that a garden won’t ever happen again… or at least not in the near future. In actuality I have let go of a lot of things because of this book (and others). We clutter our lives with so much nonsense. Our social media time can be wasted with games, videos and cute pictures of animals doing craziness. We spend money on things we don’t need or even want… I’m talking about the lady on YouTube who bought 22 $2 grab bags from a certain chain craft store and got multiples of everything she hated. This book gives us an answer to the constant wasting and misuse of our time, energy, money and talents. What I love most about this book is that there is literally something for everyone to learn and grow in.

I definitely give this book 5 stars because I have NOTHING bad to say about it.  It was an encouraging yet challenging book and it takes fine balance to be both!  Have you read the Book?  what are your Thoughts?

Thanks so much to BookLook Bloggers for providing me with this free copy for review purposes.  They provided this book free and with no expectation of a positive review!

Thankfulness Challenge 5/19/2016

Posted on by Mary

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Welcome to this week’s Thankfulness challenge!!  I’m glad you are here.  This is a wonderful time for us to share what we are thankful for in this sometimes crazy upside down world we live in.   Sometimes  it is very hard to find things to be thankful for, that’s why I have called it a thankfulness CHALLENGE!

Well here it i the 19th of May, Can you believe it?

I can’t it doesn’t really seem like May after all it did snow on Sunday!

so as I have been contemplating on all day about what I am thankful for, God and I had this conversation…Ok I did the talking but you know what I mean…..it’s actually the Number 1  thing I’m thankful for, and I was shocked as I uttered the words I am about to share with you…

I am thankful for…..

  1.  The really hard things.  yeah I just said that  2 years the unthinkable happened/  I am not however thankful that it happened…that would just be all sorts of sick and twisted and WRONG.  However after journeying through it I now Have the opportunity to hold a friend up as she now finds herself journeying through that same nightmare.   I am grateful and thankful that God was with us every step of the way, and now I get to be that voice of truth in her life…that voice, that help that encouragement I soon longed after.  I will confess it is not easy to journey with her, but my pain, anger, frustration are NOTHING compared to what she is feeling.   God’s got my mess.  I don’t need to worry about that, but I can understand her pain and how she feels far deeper than most, and I won’t let her alone in it.   My story does not end with me.  and her story will not end with her.  we are both world changers….we change the world through Christ one person at a time…..in hard times…and in silly times…..and in times when we have more people than there are staff 😉
  2. a local crisis pregnancy center that shares the hope of Christ day in and day out.  It’s beyond my comfort zone…..but it’s a place of change love, grace and mercy.   I get the distinct privilege to watch God change lives, through me and through my friends.  we fight for these girls and babies, and kids in all of their messes (some are mighty huge)
  3. For quietness…you say Mary you have 4 kids, three of whom are boys…and not just any bus, but “those” types of boys.   we have two volumes INSANELY LOUD and fast asleep.   so today I made a choice.  A choice to not to  go on a field trip with 10-12 kindergartners, and some 1st graders some other parents and siblings and a couple of teachers  I sent my hubby instead!  They had a ball and I had something I have experienced in quite some time…SILENCE.  I’m an introvert by nature.  Give me a book and a soft chair and silence  I will be re-charged. and life lately has been light speed, warp drive, go go go with nothing resembling  anything but a dull roar.  TODAY WAS GREAT.
  4. My hubby.  My kids loving considerate, pastor hubby turned 35 yesterday. He gives so much of himself too many people and a lot of times all he gets in return in a whole lot of complaining.  complaining that something wasn’t done to someones liking or not fast enough or……you fill in the blank.  so many people love to complain and yet when push comes t shove, they aren’t willing to help, they are just willing to put their testimony  in a compromising place….for out of the mouth the heart is made known.   (Matthew  15:18)
  5. a home, a place to call my own, a sanctuary..a place of peace and rest.  A place I can be myself……that is something special, not just for me, or my husband but for my kids as well…a safe place for them to stretch their wings…test out new things, a place to nat be made fun of, teased or picked on.  A place to grow.  This is not only important to our family but also to those we welcome into our home.

So here’s the question, what are YOU thankful for this week? will you Take the THANKFULNESS CHALLENGE…leave your links in the comments!

Book Review: Angel In My Room by BettyCollier

Posted on by Mary

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Angel in my room

Angel In My Room by BettyCollier is the Biography of Lillie Hopkins who lost the baby who had become her everything.  When the baby dies, she becomes inconsolable.  She feels as though her life is over and struggles with deep depression.  she talks about seeing her baby and having a conversation with God, in which she cannot decide to live or die.  Upon returning home she  is helped by a few people including her brother and another dear friend.  as she grows out of this horrible experience she then passes the grace and love shared with her during her hard times to those who then need it..  It is an encouraging book of hope and how you can rise out of the valley of despair and still touch and impact lives with love and truth.

I enjoyedAngel In in my Room.  It is a fast read and keeps you engaged.  I found it to be encouraging.  Though some of the circumstances are far fetched at times, we must remember that the Bible is specific, that Angels existed before man was created so therefore humans cannot become angels.  Does that then mean that she didn’t experience some sort of miracle NO.   This is one woman testimony, we have truth in scripture, So I can only say that one piece.  outside of that it was a gripping touching story and she is able to take the pain she endured and turned it into something absolutely beautiful as she encouraged others through their struggles as well.  It was powerfully written and the author did a fantastic job telling this woman life story.   I give it a 3 1/2 stars.

DISCLAIMER: I RECIEVED A COMPLIMENTARY COPY OF PEACE FOR TODAY BY SHIELA WALSH FROM BOOKLOOK BLOGGERS FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. I DO NOT RECEIVE COMPENSATION FOR POSITIVE REVIEWS .