Theme for 2013

Okay, so I'm about a month late posting this, but better late than never.....

Each year, I try to choose a theme for the year instead of making resolutions.  Seems less defeating from the get-go as most resolutions are usually broken very quickly.  Unlike making resolutions where I try *not* to do things, a theme, instead, helps me set the tone for the year on a more positive note, inviting me to *do* something.

Here's this years theme:

(I've printed it and have it posted several places I spend lots of time - feel free to copy for yourself if it speaks to you)

Okay, one may say that's more than one theme and technically, yes it is.....but as a whole, if falls under the umbrella of living simply and it's a theme that is set on capturing life as it happens every day and enjoying these little moments that make up the every day.  Not letting the small things go by, for it's usually the small things that are the most meaningful and that come together to make the big things.  It's about reveling in the most basic things in life, shedding the unnecessary and the living out my life as richly as possible without requiring as much as possible.

So, here's some in-depth explanation on why I chose these 5 phrases as my Theme for 2013:

Live Simply:

An article I read touched on part of my desire to live simply:

"Living simply is paring away — stuff, obligations, expectations.... It’s getting down to the core of things and returning to a way of living that most of us can only vaguely remember: pleasures that don’t cost piles of money, rewards you don’t have to buy in stores, amusements that don’t require a screen or scrabbling with hundreds of other people to get to.

When I say live simply...I’m talking about the practice of simplicity in all its forms as a kind of human grace and peace, about being present in every moment with the softest, smallest thing you can be present with — washing dishes, taking out the trash, choosing what you wear and eat and listen to, what you choose to throw away, what you save and use again. Simplicity can be as simple as sweeping the leaves from the path and using them to mulch the ferns, cutting up your old T-shirts and using them for rags, refolding and reusing a brown paper bag."
(source)

For me, living simply means cutting out confusion, complication, superfluousness....realizing that not everything has to be so difficult or full of processes.  It means planning ahead and being prepared, but realizing that life doesn't always comply with my plans.

It's coming home from work and making a simple dinner.  It's not planning too much for myself.  It's leaving enough time to read, to floss, to watch the sunset.  It's taking advantage of the time I do have, not squandering it on facebook.

It's trusting Brandon with things that don't need my opinion (and therefore time), knowing he is completely capable.  It's not trying to control or even create perfect scenarios, but taking them as they come and happen instead.  It's letting go of feeling obligated to another person when I have simply done all I can in a given situation.

Since it's easy in this day, with websites like Pinterest, to become very unsatisfied with every single thing I have, simplifying means I don't get on Pinterest as much.  It means I rearrange my perspective or my furniture. It's being content with the things that I have, using the things that I have, maybe even just re-purposing the things I have.  It's not wanting more.  It's being perfectly happy with and actually desiring less.

Love Intentionally:

Sometimes I forget that loving someone has to be, at least in some ways, an intentional thing.  This applies to all my relationships, not just with my Hubby (although, especially with him).  For me, it means being present in listening....really listening.  It means empathizing and sympathizing, putting myself in another persons shoes and really understanding how they feel and finding ways to encourage them.  It means thinking of things I know a friend or family member will appreciate or find joy in and then doing/saying/sending it to them.  It's purposefully sending notes/birthday cards - who doesn't love mail?  It's face-timing, skyping, calling and texting more when I can't be with family and friends.  It's doing things for others without being asked or without someone expecting it, just because I want to, because I want someone to know I love them, not as an obligation.  It's loving someone when it's inconvenient, not in my schedule and takes effort on my part - which shows them that they're loved and worth loving.  It's asking the Lord how He would love them and then loving them that same way.

I desire for others to know me by the love I show them.....like this Christy Nockels song says:

"Brothers, let us come together
Walking in the Spirit, there's much to be done...
We will come reaching, out from our comforts
And they will know us by our love...

Sisters, we were made for kindness
We can pierce the darkness as He shines through us...
We will come reaching, with a song of healing...
And they will know us by our love!

The time is now
Come Church arise...
Love with His hands
See with His eyes...
Bind it around you,
Let it never leave you,
And they will know us by our love...

Children, You are hope for justice,
Stand firm in the Truth now, set your hearts above
You will be reaching, long after we’re gone,
And they will know you by your love!"

You can listen to the song here: Christy Nockels - By Our Love

Strive for Quality:

I have this problem of only knowing so much about most everything I do.  It seems some of it is due to lack of focus on one thing at a time.  I have a multitude of hobbies and at any one time, can be working on several at once.  I can quilt, but I'm a beginner and I don't really know how to bind the quilts for a good finished product; I can crochet, but I only know how to do a few stitches and can't seem to make anything that doesn't vary in size from one end to the other; I can sew, but I don't know how to follow a pattern, so I make things up as I go; I dabble in photography, but still am unsure of the function of most of the knobs on my camera, etc...  It seems I know the basics of a lot of things, but never seem to get past those very basics - in a sense (at least with most crafty things), I'm a "Jill of all trades, master of none." 

So, my desire to strive for quality is to lay down my ever-growing "to-do" or "to-make" list and instead focus more on each craft, not worrying so much about quantity, but focusing on quality and learning more indepth-ly, to do better at the things I do.  To worry about checking things off the to-do list later and focus on doing things right, not hap-hazardly or minimally.

Beyond crafts and hobbies, I want this attitude to spill into other things in my life, my daily devotional - I don't want it to be a check-list item, I want to have quality in it over just doing it; my work ethic - I want to learn more about my field and the computer programs I use for drafting, not just getting by with what I've learned up to this point; my work outs - I want them to be all they can be, stretching & warming up right before runs and carefully researching ways to better take care of my body for the long haul, not doing things at the minimum that don't really do much for me; etc...  I want to strive for quality in all I do, I want to be a person of quality, not a checker-off of to-do lists.  Not that getting things done is bad (heck, last year's theme was all about getting things done!), but if they could be done better or even smarter, I would rather learn those things in the short-term, so they pay off more in the long-term.

Serve Wholeheartedly:

Ephesians 6:7 - "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men."

I have felt that serving others and God, is lacking lately in my life.  I've been using the crutch of "being new in town" as a reason to not really plug in any where and find ways to serve in my church & community. But, I've been in Lex coming up on 2 years now.  And I feel the time is right to find a place to plug in.  Brandon and I both have been feeling unsettled in ways, wondering if the Lord is stirring our hearts for something new.  But one thing I've learned, in this life of mine, is that I can't stop doing things while I'm waiting for what might be next.  I've got to keep living life and doing what I can, where I am, while I'm in this life stage.  I have to bloom where I'm planted.  So, my prayer for this, for serving wholeheartedly right here, right now (and not looking to what the future may hold as an excuse to not serve right now) is simply that God would give me His eyes - so I can see the people around me that I can serve, that I can see their needs, that I can love them for Him. 

This song by Brandon Heath says it well:

"Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

I've been here a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just move and pass me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well, I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way You've seen the people all along

Give me your eyes
Lord, give me your eyes!
For everything...That I keep missin'
Give me your arms, for the broken-hearted
Give me your heart...Lord give me your eyes"

Listen to the song here:  Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes

Rest Regularly:

As stated before, I always have a running to-do list, whether it be house stuff or more likely - my own personal crafty project stuff.  I have a hard time just doing nothing.  I feel like I should always be doing something, accomplishing something or marking something off the to-do list.  But, this doesn't leave much, if any, time for rest, which is a very important thing to do.  Whether it's making sure to rest just by not having something to do or getting enough sleep at night, I have to make sure I'm finding ways to get the rest I need.

This article helped me to see the importance of rest:

"Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is allow yourself to rest. ...As adults, we constantly ignore our body’s signals to slow down, but then we wonder why we can’t focus or get more done."

Here are some ways to rest according to the article, that I think are useful for my own life (abbreviated to apply where I saw fit for me):

"Work When it’s Work Time, Rest When it’s Rest Time:  The first step in getting the rest we need is making a firm commitment to stop working at a certain point each day and enjoy our down time. You might be losing hours of work time, but as you get more rest, you’ll see that you will be more productive during the time you do devote to work since you’ll be able to concentrate and less apt to waste time trying to get the breaks you denied yourself earlier.  It might take conscious effort to adhere to a strict quitting time, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes."  (For me, I don't have a problem stopping my "career work" at a certain time, because it's not work I can do from home, so when I leave at 5:00pm, I'm done for the day.  However, from 5:00pm to bedtime is the time I find hard to stop working on my own things at home and where I feel this bit of advice applies the best).

 
"Turn Off the Screens:  ...The artificial light emitted by televisions and computer monitors can make it more difficult for you to fall asleep.  You’ll fall asleep faster if you eliminate all screen time starting at least one hour before it’s time for you to go to bed. Reading a book for pleasure is a wonderful choice just before bedtime."  (I have a bad habit of being on my phone after the lights go out, whether it's looking at the news or Facebook or Pinterest, I've always thought it was my way of "winding down", but looks like it could be to my detriment instead.  I'm gonna try to stop this habit and see if I get better sleep).
  
 
"Leave Plenty of Free Time in Your Schedule: When you have time off from work, resist the urge to fill every second with activities. There’s tremendous value in time spent puttering around without any plans. It’s easy for our lives to become over-scheduled  which makes our bodies and minds scream for rest and downtime.
You’ll be spending time doing things, but you won’t necessarily be accomplishing more since your focus and stamina suffer when you don’t give yourself enough time to rest and unwind."  (Over-planning is another bad habit of mine.  I want to do it all so I think I can.  I really never have free time, because I allot every minute of the day for something.  I make lists of what I want to accomplish days out.  While lists are great, I need to make sure not to over-plan and therefore never have any free time to re-coop).


So, friends and family, if you've made it this far in reading about my theme for the year, I ask you to pray for me, that I can live this theme out in 2013.  If you'll do that for me, then I'll pray this for you:

"I will pray for you now for you have been my faithful friend
While the road we walk is difficult indeed
I could not ask for more than what you've already been
Only that you would say these prayers for me

May your heart break enough that compassion enters in
May your strength all be spent upon the weak
All the castles and crowns you build and place upon your head
May they all fall come crashing down around your feet

May you find every step to be harder than the last
So your character grows greater each stride
May your company be of humble insignificance
May your weakness be your only source of pride

What you do unto others may it all be done to you
May you meet the one who made us
And see him smile when life is through

May your blessings be many but not what you hoped they'd be
And when you look upon the broken
May mercy show you what you could not see

May you never be sure of any plans you desire
But you'd learn to trust the plan he has for you
May your passions be tried and tested in the holy fire
May you fight with all your life for what is true

I have prayed for you now all of my dear and faithful friends
But what I wish is more than I could ever speak
As the way wanders on I'll long to see you once again
Until then, would you pray these prayers for me?
Oh that you would pray for me."

Listen to the song here:  Kendall Payne - Pray

Much love to you and yours in this wonderful new year!