WOW - Words of Wisdom

Where I used to work, our HR team (my team and a wonderful group of people) were optimistic believers, they wanted to instigate inspiration, be a catalyst for change, an idealistic bunch who believed the best. It was just a call center but we tried to change the world we had access to. One of my co-workers, and still a dear friend to this day, was especially full of encouragement and he developed a weekly email called WOW - Words of Wisdom, where he would share quotes that he hoped would be that inspiration and catalyst. Many of them I took to heart, and still to this day I am a collector of quotes, sayings, advice that have had a hand in shaping me, inspiring me, motivating me. Figured I'd share a few:

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
-- Albert Einstein

I must have been a little mentally unhealthy to think my health would just take care of itself the way it did when I was young, that being 'young' in the eyes of the world meant my health could still be taken for granted. But I got a rude awakening and this quote has become a good motivator for being healthy, I can't expect health to just happen to me, it's a life style, not a state of being.

Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.
-- Albert Einstein

It's not only the beauty of His creation that points to His existence, the truth of biology, chemistry, physics, etc. proclaim His glory. Even the stones cry out His name. A genuine search for truth will lead to truth.

Anything worth having is worth fighting for.
--Thomas Jefferson

This has been a favorite for awhile, kind of along the lines of good things come to those that wait, but it's more pro-active than reactive, and even though waiting isn't always easy, somthings require you to act instead of being passive. And it's been my husband's and my quote almost from day one.

Do everything in LOVE. -- 1 Corinthians 16:14
Love covers all wrongs. -- Proverbs 10:12

I've always been the forgiving kind, I have more tolerance for things than some, loving people comes easily to me, but I made a connection that my judgemental attitude of the few I found hard to love, or even strangers, was in a way is unforgiving, holding something against people. Then a sermon last year changed my perspective. It is only by the power of God's love that I am not making the mistakes I'm judging in others, I have no right to judge when I could be in a worse position were I seperated from God's love. It brought new meaning to me, "love covers all wrongs", which made it easier to love people in all circumstances. Now I can have more loving interactions with people, make more loving choices....do everything in love.

The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.
-- unknown

Ever since I was little I was somewhat scared God might ask me to be a missionary, or some other responsibility that was equally as scary to me. That anxiousness disappeared a long time ago, however a few years ago a new worry took it's place, that He would not give me the responsibilities I wanted. Now I know, He doesn't give me any more than I can handle, He has placed a passion for my purpose within me because He created me, and whatever it is, it will be Him working through me, the task will never be just up to me, I am only the tool with which He works.

Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.
-- Voltaire

Just a striking remember, it's not about how good I am 'on the whole', 'on average', but any opportunity I waste that God has given me to do something counts for something too.

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.
-- Japanese Proverb

A great reminder to not be so self-concious....I need lots of those.

Be who you are and say how you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.
-- Dr. Suess

I've always wanted to take this more to heart, I have always cared too much about what people think of me, but haven't been able to quite get it through my thick head. I read this advice today that helped it sink in just a little deeper, "Don't take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality." Don Miguel Ruiz

Never separate the life you live from the words you speak.
-- Paul Wellstone

While I saw the other piece of advice above, I saw another one from Don Miguel Ruiz, "Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean." It reminded me of this quote, an important reminder that my actions speak louder than words, I don't just want to be genuine, I want to show I really believe what I'm saying, I don't want any hint of duality in my life.

Fruits of my Labor

So, despite not making any resolutions tied to the New Year, I have been experiencing more resolve than normal to become the best person I can become. The catalysts have been numerous; a lack of items checked of my 101 List, seeing friends/family reaching their goals and their potential, gaining rather than losing weight, a general re-examining of my purpose (realizing I don't feel any closer than last year, and like I haven't even acted that much on what I did learn last year). Maybe it's all the time I had on my hands over the holidays, maybe it's just something that happens to most of us, regardless of trying to avoid 'The Resolution', but I've been doing a lot of inner reflecting and deciding things I am trying to permanently change about my life.
As I mentioned my last post, I have some goals for fruitfulness, but overall my main goal is to be fruitful, period. If my results are not bearing fruit, something has to change, now. Here are some areas I know I need to change now.


Health. I am determined to keep my health a priority, and that means not letting myself get lazy. There is a difference between a 'break' and just being lazy and my 'break' from exercise has been too long to not just be lazy. My break from avoiding food treats has been too long to not just be lazy. But I refuse to allow myself to continue this aversity to work, and suffering. Everything else I've been filling myself with to avoid it has just not been fruitful. I'm back working out at least 2 days per week. I've got a taste for making my muscles hurt (in a good way :) and sweating again. I have actually developed the loss of taste for a lot of my usual snacks, I'm actually tired of them! I'm walking by chocolate and thinking 'ugh!' Shocking I know! I find myself not snacking at all or resorting to more healthier snacks. We are eating out way less, and I am continually trying to impliment healthier menu options to add more to my repetoire and therefore an easier option. My motivation is similar to my last campaign for health, yet something has changed. I don't want my exterior to be seen as self-depreciation or self-disinterest. I want to be seen as strong enough to overcome this, strong enough with His power of course.



Purpose. I've made several attempts at journalling over the years, in various forms, blogs being one of them of course. To me, journals have always been a little self-discovery, a little documentation. I have so many kinds of journals and I have a new determination to delve into them all, partially to document, a way to remember and honor lessons learned, hopefully ingraining them in my memory, partially to continue the self-discovery I feel I need more than ever. I have over the course of the last year felt that sharing my insights in my blogs may be part of my purpose, but I know that's not all. I feel the need to hash out my feelings about my previous goals, how I can achieve them in different ways, what I am meant to do instead, what talents am I not tapping into the full potential of? I have re-begun a discovery/creative journal I attempted to start in 2004, where I use many different mediums to become more intuitive, courageous, effortless, and less self-consious and inhibited in my creativity and self-discovery. It's been fun and freeing and fruitful.



Discipline. I spend a lot of time admiring people for various fruits they've developed, yet not doing much to attain that which I admire. I have become determined not to let that continue. When I find myself wishing I could be 'that way', I won't think of it as a lofty goal and I will make a plan to develop that fruit in myself, and then remained disciplined until I've achieved that goal. The number one thing on my list I have always wished I had more discipline with is reading the Bible. I can't expect to grow closer to God, and become more fruitful, if I don't dedicate myself to reading His Word. I have treated Bible reading as a goal and not a need, I need it like I need exercise and healthy eating. So, I'm making it almost fool proof. I have found a Facebook application for the One Year Bible Online, which gives me 7 days of daily readings when I open the application (on my profile page). My penchant for time wasting is at it's highest on Facebook, so I'm using my weakness against me :) and making my Bible reading just shy of too easy!



I will be a different person by this time next year, and for all the years to come, I am shaping myself into that person, day by day. I don't know who that person is yet, but I know who they won't be.

New Year, Not New Me

I’m going to copy my friend and resolve to make no more new year’s resolutions. I want to begin to think in terms of choosing to work on myself daily as opposed to making a list of yearly goals. Partially because I made my list one year ago and then within months I was thrown for some loops, and lost my focus on those ‘priorities’, instead working hard at hanging on and making sure the rollercoaster didn’t throw me off the tracks all together. Partially because the root of all my goals is my relationship with God, but just because there was certain fruit I intended on harvesting from that relationship doesn’t mean that’s what God had planned for me in 2009.
That doesn’t mean goals aren’t important to me, I still have goals for my finances, my health, my talents, etc., but my predominant goal is to seek out God’s will for me every day, to discover who He is shaping me to be in each moment. I believe that will result in a lot of various fruits, as that’s what the Bible promises when we are plugged into the Vine, will that mean I lose more weight, reduce my debt, and so on? I hope so, but I guess it depends on if there are more imperative challenges I need to deal with first.
I don’t want to make it sound like 2009 was a complete failure, there were many wonderful things about 2009 I celebrate and am so thankful for:
1. In the first 4 months especially, but all through the year, God has proven when I draw near to Him, He will draw near to me, and I have basked in His presence more this year than I ever have. He keeps showing me more and more of my ‘big picture’, and although I most certainly don’t have the whole picture, I do have increasing peace about what He has in store for me.
2. God finally got the truth through to me about my past, showing me the lies I believed about it and knowing that truth has made all the difference. I finally have plugged a leak of negativity in my life that was not only a distraction but a danger.
3. Even with the economic struggles most of us have been facing, we enjoyed a trip to Nashville, I started a Stampin’ Up! business, we’ve been able to put more money down on our mortgage (thanks to choosing a variable rate on our new house), and we still only have a small amount of debt.
4. I have still overall lost 21 lbs, so despite my indulgences and lack of motivation to continue my weight loss, I haven’t fallen behind too much, and am back on track thanks to a husband who has increasingly become more involved in his own health this year.
5. The loops and detours this year have equipped me or provided me with time and resources to invest more in certain relationships, and I am so glad to have grown closer to many people this year.
6. Over the course of the year my perspective of the future has changed drastically, and so it changes my long term goals yet clarifies my current purpose more. It ties into my sustainable living and pursuit of truth, and although it is all still just pieces of a bigger puzzle, I am growing content and confident.
So, another year, another wild ride, and I look forward to many more :) And I hope to keep sharing them with you all as well!
Happy New Year!

2009 Christmas Letter

Dearest Family & Friends, December 2009

Merry Christmas to all our loved ones, another year and another letter. We hope the year has brought you many blessings and we that we get to hear about them soon!

Well, as usual, we’ll start with what keeps us the busiest….work. This December has marked 2.5 years at Golder Associates for me and I am still feeling lucky I get to work with people I consider friends, work for a company who is trying to help the world, not use it, and for the most part it doesn’t feel like the bottom line is the most important thing. I’m still juggling accounting, report editing/formatting, a multitude of admin needs and now assisting project managers with their project related administration. Although it’s been busy, we have begun to feel the economic struggle, and unfortunately we’ve had to see our office, and our “family,” shrink due to this. This latter part of the year has been a real exercise in trusting God, not only for my own well-being but for the well-being of my friends who are no longer part of the Golder family. Right now my job is not in jeopardy, and they say admin is actually needed more now, but some days can be a real balancing act between feeling the loss and being grateful for what I still have, so I take the advice of a good friend, and recently former co-worker, “all you can do is pray His will be done.”

The same can be said for Sean’s work situation. The economic pains are leaving few untouched, and cutbacks at Skybridge have Sean taking on two roles for the price of one, as well as still being the go-to person for many additional projects from upper management. At times it can be flattering they think so highly of him, that they expect he can handle it all, but sometimes the stress of such a heavy workload also takes a heavy toll. But after 7 years it’s hard to imagine finding another job with as many great relationships, great hours (aka, same as Lori’s), and decent pay, all of which add to how grateful Sean is for still having his job.

This year also brought us to the hard decision of returning to Winnipeg to attend a Church. We really loved Southland, we learned and grew so much from our time there, and would have preferred continuing being in that community, however we really felt called in Spring to make it a priority to try and bring family and friends into our Church community. That was unsuccessful with 1.5 hrs of driving every week just to attend, so in June we returned to Riverwood, the Church in Elmwood we attended in 2005/06, which we had really liked attending but just hadn’t connected to very well. It just so happens to be a 5 minute drive from our new house, I now had a friend that attends, and it is a very good Church for reaching the “un-Churched”, so we knew it was the best choice for us this time. We also decided to become more intentional about getting involved, so I am already volunteering as a substitute for childcare during their Tuesday night teen mom’s group.

The other big news for us in 2009 was our trip to Nashville. When debating where we would go for our vacation this year, Sean came across information on a fan event for our favorite Christian author, Ted Dekker, and so we decided to go to the event and add another state to our list of new states visited. We really enjoyed meeting Ted, and getting a sneak peek into his world(s). And we really loved the rest of our time there too, the beautiful scenery, the country music, the really friendly people, the weather, and more (pics up on Facebook). We can’t wait to be able to go back again someday.

Other than that, most of the same old has filled up our time. Of course, spending time settling into the new house, making it our own. Sean has joined me in my working out now that we have a home gym….although I’m not as dedicated as I was last year, but having Sean interested has re-motivated me J We have really enjoyed taking long walks in our neighborhood, it’s such a lovely place to walk, especially down Kildonan Drive, both a great exercise and special time together. I have also recently turned my crafting hobby into a business and have busied myself since June being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator, participating in workshops and other ways to promote my tools and creations. It’s been a great way to connect and reconnect with good friends, which is always a high priority. Especially now that we’re not making a weekly trip to Steinbach, it’s given me another excuse to make an occasional trip and visit dear friends.

We still can’t get enough time with family but I intentionally made time especially for the kids. I was determined to babysit, overnight, at least one of my nieces and nephew, and I did! I babysat Landon overnight and then Landon and Brooklynn overnight a few months later. A challenge, but I loved the one-on-one time, and testing my own care-giving abilities. Never thought a silent sleeping baby would keep me up most of the night! Brooklynn is in preschool now, how fast they grow up! She and Avery are a real joy, to watch them learn and develop is still a miracle to me. And speaking of miracles, a new baby will be joining our family in June when my sister Tami has her first child, yay! I will be an aunt again!

As usual, the year has flown by, a few landmarks in a mostly unremarkable year. The only thing remarkable is God’s faithfulness, continually giving us enough strength to tackle our current battles, and more than enough love to keep making choices to draw us closer to Him. Sean and I are approaching the end of our 6th year of marriage, and God continues to use us as an example of His forgiveness and love to each other. Our love grows as we daily understand more about what love really is, and it gives us renewed passion for the life we get to share together.

Well, that’s just about it for us and 2009. As always if you want to find out what’s going on with us before next December, feel free to visit me at loriinhishands.blogspot.com and we wish you all a meaningful holiday season, full of warm memories, a reflective look at the year past, and a hopeful look towards 2010.


Love
Lori & Sean

List crazy

I've done a few things recently that aren’t on my big 101 list but they have been things I’ve been thinking I should do for awhile now, just wanted to ‘check’ them off my non-existent list in my mind :)
~ buy a ‘little black dress’











~ pass on my ‘wisdom’ to a young girl – I am participating in a compilation book of advice to a young girl, I am just turning it into a more graphically pleasing version, then I’m passing it off to her mom to add to the book

~ try to bake more – this year I baked; shortbread cookies, pumpkin cheesecake tarts, my best pie ever (not me who said that), pumpkin pancakes, ginger pear loaf, and now this week chocolate espresso shortbread cookies (although, not all turned out edible, at least I tried :)


~ make homemade soup – created a Tuscan tomato soup I love, and created a turkey stew with my hubby that is the perfect comfort stew for a cold winter’s day

~ attend a wine tasting – Arrington vineyards in Nashville








~ buy hand-crafted art for home decor – bought lovely handmade wooden signs for our dining room



~ wrote up and finalized a will for hubby and I

I’ve got so many things I have on my mental wish/to do list, I just can’t wait for my current 101 list to be done to start the next list! Lol. I've already got about 35 items for my list in 119 days :)
And here’s just the updates of my 101 list while I’m at it:
Out of 101 to dos - 55 Completed ~ 13 In Progress ~ 19 daily/weekly/etc. items implemented ~ 8 No Can Dos
15 LEFT TO DO! With 119 days to go! (as of last update - 12/20/09)

27. Organize craft supplies so I can find what I am looking for – just need to add a couple more shelves and then I have a place for everything and everything in its place36. Aim to use less than 5 days of sick time per year - 07/08 =6.5/5 days, 08/09 = 4/5, 09/10 = 3.5/555. Go out for a one-on-one coffee/dinner with at least 6 family members each year – 12/16
59. Go out for a coffee/dinner with at least one friend each month – 20/3261. Organize a 'paper crafting' club that will meet every other month - have a Stampin' Up! Card club in Steinbach, next meeting in January if you want a spot :)62. Become a mom (even though this one is a little out of my control) – investigating more information about tipped uterus (which I likely have), and working to create better reproductive health with diet63. Join a cell group/Bible study – going to be attending a course about connecting/small groups at our Church starting January
79. My second tattoo – had my consult, have an appointment for the tattoo Feb.13, 201095. Make at least 100 cards for at least 10 different occasions, to have ready on hand for each year's events – created 65/100
97. Read about one book/month – read 17/32
99. Make at least two journal entries per week, on blog or on paper - 284/284

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE!

You are invited to a HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE!
Featuring products from my own Stampin' Up! collection! Other tables include Creative Memories (Scrapbooking supplies etc.), Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Norwex (Environmental cleaning supplies), Rutabaga Brown Jewellery (semi-precious stones-affordable prices) and MUCH MORE!
Come see me and hey, while you are there, get all your Christmas shopping done in one place!

Date: Saturday, December 5, 2009
Time: 12:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: 1211 Kildonan Drive, Winnipeg

Dumpster Diving

Imagine realizing you accidentally threw out something valuable. How valuable would it have to be for you to dumpster dive to save it? Think of all that you have to wade through in order to salvage your precious possession? Rotting food covered in mould and slime. Used diapers that smell so bad you want to hurl. Broken glass jutting out every where. Used needles, either with medical or narcotic materials all over it. Cat litter. Mulched leaves. Used condoms. Sharp tin can lids. Used Kleenex. The list could go on. And so could the list of diseases and injuries you could get from putting a limb in that mess.

Would you jump into that pile to search for your favorite mug? Or how about favorite sweater? Something more valuable like your wallet? An heirloom piece of jewellery? You start calculating the risk and how much is it worth to expose yourself to every conceivable vile and nasty hazard in order to save it? What would it take for you to deem it worth it?

Compared to heaven, our earth is a vile and nasty dumpster, filled with broken and messy people. A lot of us feel like we're trashed and untouchable. Unsalvageable. But God thinks you are worth diving into the dumpster for! He did it, He dove right into the middle of it, searching for all those in need of saving. And He didn't even try to avoid the danger or disease, no hazmat suite, no armor, nothing for protection. We are all worth it, no matter how many He could give freedom, it was worth it to expose Himself to the messy existance of a human.

There are those He rescues that jump right back in, either unaware they are in need of rescue or not feeling worthy enough. But He will stay there, wading neck high in our garbage, waiting until we grab His hand and let Him pull us free. Waiting until we've all taken or passed up our chance to escape the dumpster. Trust that He's there, no matter your mess, He's in it with you waiting for you to reach out to Him.

(Thanks to Pastor Todd for inspiration for this parable)