This picture of #sakekitty has basically been my whole weekend. Curled up in a ball.
I think I was worn down. I think I’m fighting off something with my ears plugged, sore throat and dizziness, so I’ve literally done alllll the sleeping and cuddling I could with this little nugget.
12 hours Friday night.
7 hours of naps on Saturday.
12 1/2 hours Saturday Night .
And today, I napped all morning, did some writing this afternoon, followed by another nap and now, it’s 6:30 pm and all I want to do is go to bed.
This is not me.
I never nap, and while I joke I am an excellent sleeper, I never get more than 8 hours. This weekend tho, I felt the need to listen to my body. I felt the need to be kind to it. Softer. Gentler. More loving.
At first it felt wrong. Like I #should be doing more. Like #rest was a four letter word and like #time might be lost. But then I decided rest and healing went hand in hand and so I allowed myself to lean into it- welcome it.
I still feel worn down. I’m still fighting something. But oh gosh, my spirit is thriving! All my awake time was filled with a dear friend, pouring life into me. God seemed to know this was the time to let HER know what I needed ... and she listened and blessed me with prayers and messages and chats and more than she knew what I needed. She rekindled an area I was floundering in, she spoke life into my life, and she blessed me with truths and gifts that are priceless.
Friends. Listen to the #nudges. They are God timed!!! You may not have any idea how badly words of life, encouragement and friendship can mean in that moment. It’s God orchestrating His family, to meet the needs of His children... and it’s so so beautiful.
She didn’t know I was sick. She didn’t know some of the prompting I was uncertain about. She didn’t know the struggle I was having or the need I needed filled. But He did. And she listened ... and in it, I pray she was blessed too. ••••••
#meetingneeds #lovedoes #alaskafriends #wonthedoit #joyfullife #joyfullifecommunity #prompts #writerswrite #whatdoesyourheartneedtohear ?
@carinaalanson #realdeal #jesusgirl #rareinfj #infjwoman
It was a simple idea.
A #simpleproject .
It’s intention one thing:
Focus on a word. And then, The Word...
Mindfully, but simply.
A Bible from a #secondhandstore .
A frame from the #dollarstore .
#tissuepaper crumpled up as I pondered and relaxed.
Some markers and #biblejournaling pens.
And then... just a word I felt the Spirit wanting me to dwell on.
I can feel insignificant sometimes.
Unimportant and unseen even.
Sometimes I let the lies park too long in my mind and too close to my heart and I begin to wonder my worth.
Honest. Some days... I battle those things...
Not often anymore. And not long. But they still arise, and when they do?
Well.. I’ve learned to have words of truth prepared.
Tonight, the truth resounded with this word. #delight
And #zephaniah317 became my sword.
God delights over me!
He sings over me with joy!
Not later. Not down the road when I’m “better”- “more”- “enough”...
but NOW.
In my mess. In my right this minute breakdown. In my “not ready”, “still broken”, give me a minute gotta fix my make up moments!
#justasiam ... in my #rightnow ... #hedelightsinme !
Sometimes I just need to see it.
Read it.
Write it.
Frame it.
Craft it.
And when I’m “done with it”... a day. A week. A month later... take it out of the frame and fold it up and either tuck it in my Bible, or stick it in a note to a friend who might need to hear it too.
Silly project? Maybe.
But it’s powerful mindfulness that drives home a word from the Word. And a little adult coloring and Bible journaling often sets me at a #paceofpeace .
Tonight’s was simple. Some nights, it’s more detailed. But this... is always... #unrushed #intentional and #powerful
It’s not my typical #writing and journaling...yet it tells story’s my own heart needs to hear.
Like:
He delights in me.
He delights in you too.
#simplejoys #outoftheordinary #joyfullife #biblejournaling #joyfullifecommunity #hopewriterlife #hopewriters #whatdoesyourheartneedtohear ?
I’m finding that if I’m not careful, food quickly becomes a focus in a whole new way when I restrict it during a fast.
I find myself asking,”What can I find to meet my craving for sweet and meat, dairy and grain. Can I find a good substitute? Something that will take the place and meet the “need” I have for it?”
Ugh.
I can quickly obsess over it; googling recipes, joining vegan groups, shopping new places, researching clean options, tracking all ingredients and finding options that mimic what I hunger for...
If I’m not careful, it’s a new spiral.
A new preoccupation.
A replacement for the old addiction and a
substitution for my former yearning.
It’s the same thing. Just different.
The food restriction just simply becomes the new obsession instead of allowing it to draw me closer to God.
I want fasting to draw me to a place where ,
Instead of seeking “replacements”, I seek Jesus.
Instead of fixing a craving, I fix my eyes on Him.
Instead of focusing on what I can’t have, I focus on what He wants for me.
Instead of restriction... freedom.
Instead of losing weight, losing what weighs me down
I’m trying so hard to change this mindset ... as a foodie and a lover of cooking and meal prep and grocery shopping and alllll the thannngs....
I have to be vigilant in pursuing Him
and not the next recipe. And while I believe he wants me to enjoy food,
I know I can form an addiction to it...
even the good parts of it.
So Jesus.
Help me.
These things I’ve laid down at your feet in this fast, are hard ones for me. And that’s the purpose. Not to restrict and control on my part, what I can do, but to have you revise and increase my faith and in doing so-
see mountains move ❤️
•••••••• #fasting #intermittentfasting #foodandfaith #revealthetruth #revealthehiddenparts #hisway31days
#revelationwellness @revelationwellness @alisakeeton #revwell #wonthedoit #jesusgirl #tryingsofter
I didn’t know how badly I needed this.
Peace.
An escape from the chaos.
A moment.
An exhale.
I think I’ve been holding my breathe for awhile now and I didn’t even know it.
Until this moment.
And it felt sacred.
I rented a local hotel room today because we were expecting bad weather. Bad weather hits and I often get stranded on top of my hill and the 130 acres of homestead that surrounds it. I had a women’s mini conference, at church tonight... and I wanted to go. Knew I needed to go.
I’ve been missing my church for weeks now, and I’ve been longing...
so- I made a plan to get a room close by so I’d be able to get there ... and then when weather cleared tomorrow, get home.
Then... the event got cancelled and I found myself with this room, and decided to stick it out as it was paid for.... called Hubby and he said “go for it”...
I had anticipated growth and learning and going deep at my women’s event... But
What I didn’t anticipate tho, was the quiet time and the #unrush and the #solitude of it being cancelled and me getting this time here in the hotel, to be a space for Jesus to enter in anyway... without the #womensevent ...
without preaching...
without connection and fellowship with other women...
Yet,
He met me here.
In a hot tub in an pool area and...
He let me exhale.
Here I sat. Bawling. In a hot tub. Because I was suddenly quiet enough, still enough, to hear my spirit say...”Breathe Kay. Exhale. You’ve been tightly wound for awhile...
Holding the tension of all these things...
afraid that if you exhaled, something might slip.
Daughter.
Let go. Completely. Take a breathe.
I’ve got this.” And so I did.
I ugly cried in a hot tub.
And with that ugly cry... I found a breath of fresh air rush in again. #refreshment #peace
I didn’t even know the tension was so weighty. I have a strong prayer life. A deep devotion life. A trusted walk with Jesus- and I had let go of soooo much over so many years, but what was whispered in the hot tub was:
Although I’d let go of so much, I was still holding my breath.
He wanted my breath.
Come to Me all you who are weary, heavy laden...(Or holding your breathe) and I will give you rest.
#sis - are you holding your breath too?
My Christmas tree is down.
For the first time in two christmases.
I loved keeping it up year round and I already miss it’s warm glow and the cozy atmosphere it created in this library. That space, where now a small table and my #abide mug rest, used to be my favorite place to rest my eyes as I prayed, pondered, planned and dreamed.
Now the unfinished drywall seems so plain and needy... and as I sit here in an early morning quiet time, reading @joyfullifemagazine ‘s #everydayjoy and @anniefdowns #100daystobrave ...
I’m missing what was.
I need cozy places. I need spots that draw me to them, to sit in them; #ponder #pray #plan and #dream . I want the warmth and welcome of them.
I’ve always been drawn to them, but now, in an unfinished #homestead , there just seems to be something extra soothing about them.
I have plans for that wall... #comingsoon !
A #quiltrack , a rustic shelf where I can lean various frame and pictures and art, and change it out from time to time...
But for now,
the blank, empty, unfinished wall, stares at me.
•••••
As #writers do, I’m trying to draw something from this.
As a #jesusgirl , I’m trying to pull a spiritual insight.
Does every space “in us” need to be filled?
In the absence of something beautiful can we still find joy?
Is plain and needy only my perspective?
Why do we seek #cozy?
In the wait for that “space” to be filled, do we listen to the prompts of what should go there, or just forge ahead with plans and processes, just to make it happen more quickly?
Pondering . What would your spin be?
I’d love to have you help me #writetherestofthestory ••••••
#storytelling #woolgatherers #writingprompts
#joyfullife #joyfullifecommunity #joy #hopewriters #hopewriterlife #hopewriter #hope #homesteader #writer #writerlife #shewritestruth #writerswrite #whatdoesyourheartneedtohear ?
Sometimes we fail to see our calling RIGHT WHERE WE ARE. We live only in expectation of what God MIGHT call us to and COULD BE preparing us for down the road.
But friend, there are #godopportunities all around us #everyday !
Satan gets this concept too and he sees our potential with a much greater #clarity than we do. HE KNOWS your power to impact RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE, so he seeks to do whatever he can to destroy you, discourage you,
and press you down,
in THAT PLACE.
In your NOW place.
In fact, he works furiously at it.
I have just one thing to say to that.
ENGAGE your FAITH!
Where you are NOW
in the place you live
in the place you work
in the place you shop
In the space you occupy on Facebook, Instagram, the bus stop, the grocery store line, the bank tellers cubbie, the drive through...#contend
#engage! Its active, it means to become involved, assume an obligation, pledge your word, enter into conflict.
Fight with valor and purpose and tenacity;
Actually swinging your Sword.
Take aim at the Devil with your #faith.
I love 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 from the Message version :
"-pray that our God will make you fit for what He's called you to be. Pray that He'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with His own energy so that it all amounts to something! If your life honors the name of Jesus, He will honor you! GRACE is behind and through all of this, our God giving Himself freely, the master, Jesus Christ, giving Himself Freely. "
So in the “NOW” life,
go Engage your faith for HIM who gave Himself freely for you and let Him, who has given you His same energy, help you make your day amount to something for Him right where you live NOW.
Don’t discredit your Now spaces.
You’re in them for a reason #sis.
There might be more coming.
There might be something up ahead.
There might be a calling you’re being prepared for...
But, You have NOW to engage a radical faith that will help launch you into your “more” when it comes.
Be faithful NOW.
It’s an obedience that will make all the difference .
Let’s be Kingdom “difference makers”
right where we all are, #evennow #hisway31days #revelationwellness
