31 Days of Gratitude Challenge Day 4

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31 Days of Gratitude

Day 4: October 4, 2011

• Making it to work on time
• Completing my mystery shops when I originally planned to do them
• Being able to make things easier for my mom-in-law and help out my brother-in-law

Won't you share what you are grateful for today?

31 Days of Gratitude Challenge Day 3

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31 Days of Gratitude

Day 3: October 3, 2011

• Finding a decent parking spot
• Fresh, home-grown produce
• Making dinner with my husband
• My husband picking up the kids from the babysitter's so I can just go straight home

Won't you share what you are grateful for today?

31 Days of Gratitude Challenge Day 2

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31 Days of Gratitude

Day 2: October 2, 2011

• Having 2 reliable vehicles that are paid off
• Leftovers 
• A freshly mowed lawn (thank you N!)

Won't you share what you are grateful for today?

31 Days of Gratitude Challenge Day 1

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Do you ever find yourself getting so caught up in the day-to-day things that you find days go and you can't remember the last time you were grateful for the things in your life? Perhaps you are reading this and have carved out devotional time to thank God for the things He has blessed you with....if that is you, then great job! I have not been able to get to this point yet. I have a gratitude journal in my bedroom, but since we rearranged the room, the bed stand is on my husband, N's, side. Out of sight, out of mind totally applies here unfortunately. I have tried to give thanks for things in the morning on the way to work this last week as I returned to work after my maternity leave, but the weekend hit and I got busy.

In my past small group, someone used the quote, "If the Devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy." That sums it up for me. I saw the "31 Days..." post from Remodeling This Life and felt a tug on my heart to join in.

I am going to spend October teaching myself a new habit....the habit of daily gratitude. Please join me in being grateful daily for the blessings in your life. Share what you are grateful for...even if some days it is just being able to log onto the internet, or to get out of bed in the morning. Some days you may have many things come to mind, while other days it may be a stretch to come up with just one.

I hope that this challenge inspires you and moves you to create a positive new habit in your life, as I am hoping it does for me as well!

31 Days of Gratitude

Day 1: 

• Being able to share the story of my new baby's home birth story with my midwife's birth class mamas-to-be.
• My mom-in law and dad-in-law and the close relationship they have with me and my husband and our daughters. 
• The ability to recreate my church's website in the hopes that it helps to connect people to God and others.

Won't you share what you are grateful for today?

Free coffee anyone?

Are you in need of a caffeinated pick-me-up? How about a free coffee to help you with that? McDonald's is giving away free coffee tomorrow, Wednesday, September 14th. It is to kick off their new McCafe loyalty program. So drive in, drink up, and feel energized!

Emerging from the Funk

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It has been almost 1 1/2 months to the day since I was 'let go' from the everyday career I had. It has been an interesting, stressful, emotional roller coaster of a ride, but one that I feel stronger for having gone through. I have seen the government for some of its goods and bads, but overall am thankful that I live in this great country. I feel that I am crawling out of the just-get-through-the-day funk that I have been in and am ready to being productive again.

As for the blog challenges that I said I was going to participate in, I did follow SimpleMom's challenges, though never did get any photos posted. The 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge is still going. I am at 35 bags, all of which were given to church for last week's rummage sale. I still have 5 bags to fulfill that challenge,but I am ready to close that chapter too. 

Have you ever been in that barely-getting-by fog of a funk? How did you finally emerge? Was there a catalyst that spurred you on, or did you just awake one day to find that you were ready to get back on your feet and get fighting again?

Unexpected Changes Bring Unexpected Optimism and Faith

Sometimes in life, major things happen unexpectedly.

That is a given.

What is not a given is how we will choose to react to those changes, whether wanted or not.

Last week, after putting in a good number of years in my workplace, that door was unexpectedly closed, with a resounding SLAM! At the time, I was shocked,

dumbfounded, without words...in fact it was more surreal than most anything I had experien

ced up to that point, including the birth of our daughter. Now that I have had nearly a week to reflect on what this means and how it may affect me and my family, I realize that I have chosen to take the high road, the optimistic, non-vindictive, uncomplaining, Christian road. I am pleasingly surprised at the unconscious way I have taken this road bump. I am actually proud of how I have stepped over this pile of poo, and have kept my chin and spirits up. I can only attribute this to the blessings that God has put in my life, and the faith that I have that he will take care of us.

Now, this doesn't mean that I am sitting home waiting for checks to roll in, but I am counting my many blessings, and realizing that although I didn't choose for this door to close when it did, I knew it was just a matter of time before I closed it myself to move on. God just felt it was time to move ahead with my life, and apparently I needed this kick start.

I am planning to tackle many things now that this door is shut, but I am specifically planning to publicly rise to the challenge of two fellow bloggers, and follow 2 motivating, challenging series. I highly recommend that you try them, if even in a small way, and just see if God doesn't bless you and raise your spirits in the process!

Please join me in my adventure in the following challenges:

Project: Simplify

&

40Bags in 40 Days

Have you had doors close unexpectedly in your life? How did you handle them and move on? What was your motivation to move along with your life? Will you take part in these challenges? Or, have you taken part of challenges of your own that you would like to share here?