Sunday, November 27, 2011

A speck of light...

I have been having a dry spell in terms of my creative work. I often feel like I am pushing forward, trying to move it ahead, but meeting with some brick walls. I was thinking this through before church last night, noting at that time how dark the stained glass windows appear on the inside of a church at night. It is similar to how dark aspects of our lives seem sometimes when we are "inside ourselves". 

As I was mulling this over, I noticed a strange red, small light glowing in one of the stained glass panels. Somewhere outside, a beam of light reached the glass and caused a small circle of red glass to glow amidst all of the blackness. So, even though I could not see the colors in the window, they were there, of course. The window just need to be illuminated.

It reminded me of how we sometimes don't feel faith in what we are doing, and yet that faith is still there, residing in our souls, even as a small ember, ready to burst into flame, never completely extinguished. It just needs a bit of flame.


So, it is back to my creative work, in spite of not feeling the faith in what I am doing or the hope that it will come to fruition. I am going where I believe God is leading me, and until He shows me differently, I walk on faith - not feeling. And, perhaps like that small circle of light, a bit of the feeling soon will return!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Those Little Touches...

When I leave town, I always miss home. Yes, I miss the biggest parts of "home" - my husband, children, the house itself - but I also find that I miss the little things - the things that perhaps I don't appreciate as much as I should when I am surrounded by them.


What do these "little things" include? Here are just a few:


1. My fireplace(s) - we have a gas fireplace, a wood-burning fireplace, and one that simply isn't safe (one of my dreams is to purchase a gas insert for that one!). There is something about a fireplace, when lit, that warms the spirit with the room. Our gas fireplace can be seen from outside, and my husband always comments how he loves to pull into our driveway and see the fire blazing.


2. My kitchen - if you love to cook, your kitchen start to reflect your taste - in both decor and in food. I love puttering in my kitchen, making peppermint tea, trying new recipes, even making homemade dog biscuits. In many respects, the kitchen is my playground.


3. Sunsets - Okay, these don't come exclusively with my house, but I do live on top of a hill, and so the sunsets over the valley are fantastic. My husband and I love to spend those last moments of daylight, watching the sun creep below the horizon, and then the array of colors the clouds reflect until everything becomes shades of blue, gray, and black. It is our favorite time of day -"our time". When I am out of town, I miss those moments a great deal.


4. My gardens - during the spring, summer, and fall, I love to "play" in my garden, trying new herbs, flowers, and veggies each year. Last year, for the first time, I grew white pumpkins. I put in a bed of asparagus. I am already making plans for next year. And, that is the beauty of gardening - there is always next year!


What small things do you love about your home???


Blessings~
Lisa

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Taking Advantage of Opportunities...

Okay, I admit it. I frequently don't take advantage of the opportunities that come my way. I pick up a newspaper or read a local news blog and discover that an event, speaker, writer - something - is coming near my hometown -- and I don't go. I can come up with a million reasons why I can't go - I am too busy, I have other plans, it is too cold, I haven't been home all week, etc. 


This year, one of my pledges to myself was to stop finding reasons to say "no" and instead find reasons to say "yes". One of the events to which I recently said "yes" was a dinner with P. Buckley Moss. I have always enjoyed her art that features many people, scenes, and aspects of prairie life. She is absolutely delightful! She visited with anyone who wanted to talk, signed the artwork those in attendance had brought, and related so well with the audience, you would think she was a "hometown girl"


Saying yes is often rewarding - don't let life pass you by!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Changing of the seasons means...

...breaking out the new feeders! The hummingbird and oriole feeders now sit in our spare bathtub, waiting to be cleaned and put away. We put out the winter feeders, filling the finch socks with Niger seed, the hanging bird trays with black sunflower seed, and suet feeders (as seen above) with fresh fat.

The prairie is still ripe with seed, so we aren't seeing many birds yet. But soon, as the cold winds continue to drive the seed to the ground, and the snow and ice fall, our feeders will be abuzz with activity.

On my Christmas list this year, I have placed a heated bird bath. One of my good friends told me that it is the best way to attract and keep winter birds at the feeders.

So, a bit of our prairie dream: watching the feeders as fall fades and winter makes her appearance.

What are you doing to mark the season's changing?

Lisa

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Procrastination....

I hate to admit it, but I can procrastinate with the best of them. There are times when I am on a roll - I check off every item on my to do list, and it feels so good! But there are times, especially when I have very tedious projects or projects that make me nervous to begin, and I can find a hundred reasons not to sit down and just do it!

That happened to me tonight. I have to edit a paper, and yuck - I don't want to. So, I have found all sorts of meaningless tasks to fill my night - and now, four and a half hours later, it is almost time for bed, and I feel the same lethargic feeling I have when I have eaten too many dove candies. Yuck!

What tasks do you try to avoid? How do you kick yourself into gear?

What am I going to do? Make myself stay up and at least get started! Often that is the hardest part!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Keeping track....

Yikes - I flipped the calendar over this week, and realized that the "Day of Reckoning" in terms of my 2011 plans/ goals/ dreams was almost at hand.

So, how have I done so far? I decided to take an inventory of some of my goals/ dreams (I won't catalog them all here, because as my kids would be happy to tell you "Her resolutions take pages!"), but here are a few:

1.  Lose 25 pounds - I have lost 9 lbs. My goal is to lose 3-4 more pounds before the end of the year to reach my halfway point.

2. Finish writing my book and send it off to an editor- this is one of my "dreams" - I define dreams as goals straight from the heart. I was successful in completing my book, and it is in the hands of three editors. This goal is right on track.

3. Move my two nonprofit organizations ahead - I have made small progress with one, very little with the other. This is a new goal for 2012.


4. Develop a new friendship - this goal was achieved in surprising ways. An old friend from the past and I reconnected and have been corresponding, now making plans to have dinner.  A surprising way to make a "new friend".


What are your dreams and goals? What success have you had in moving them forward? What are your plans for 2012?