Weekend Update Jan 25th

Homefront:
Another positive week this week.  I got to chaperone Amelia’s class trip to see their school production of Aladdin.  Such a treat!  So thankful.

We continued with Jesus Calling: 365 Devotions For Kids by Sara Young, in the car on the way to the bus stop, and we’re actually having a great time with it – discussing the passage and then praying.  Well, I try to get the praying in while they make comments about my prayer from the backseat.

I’m going to start on a scripture memory project with them this week.  I want to start with Ephesians 6:10-18.  I figure if I can make it into a multi-sensory project, it will be much easier for them to learn the passage.  It’s all about the Armor of God, so I think it will be fun.  I’m planning on starting with verse 10 this week.  I’ll post a picture of how the projects came out next week.

What I finished reading this week:
Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creativeby Austin Kleon. I liked this book. Quite a few creative ideas – like separating my work space into creative and non-creative. I’m going to see how I can implement that with my limited space. Quick read and quite thought provoking too.
A New York Christmas: A Novel by Anne Perry. I love this author. Her descriptions of 1800’s England and America are entertaining and educational. This was her typical mystery with lots of hand wringing and agonizing unspoken dramas included. Fast and although not as awesome as her usual ones, I do enjoy these holiday novelettes.
Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen and Bath Renovation Guide (Better Homes and Gardens Home). We have some renovation work to do on our almost 70 year old mid-century modern home. This is a current publication and I got a lot of good ideas. Although my copy is from the library and I’ll be returning it – when we get closer to remodeling, I’ll get it again. Really enjoyed this.

This week I’ll continue with the ones I either haven’t started or didn’t finish from last week, and I’ve added a few more.
Parenting the Wholehearted Child: Captivating Your Child’s Heart with God’s Extravagant Grace, by Jeannie Cunnion. I’m LOVING this book! I’m so glad I bought it. It has all kinds of great suggestions for loving and discipling your child in a way that makes sense. I highly recommend this! I’m savoring it and taking my time reading it.  I’m going to try and get Jeannie on as a podcast guest to talk about this book.  I think you would LOVE it too! 🙂
The Attributes of God: A Journey into the Father’s Heart by A. W. Tozer. I’m so excited to dig into this one. I’m working on the beginnings of a new book idea and this is part of my research.:)
The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM)by Hal Elrod. You guys. This book is an answer to prayer! For more than a year I have been saying I want to get into a morning routine…but I just haven’t been able to. I’m not even sure why it’s been so difficult, but I just haven’t been able to dig in. But can you believe it? I finally found the answer.

Last night as I was driving down I-5 headed to speak for a fundraising dinner, I turned on Jaime Tarde’s podcast and heard her talking with Hal. Unbelievable. Seriously. I felt like the heavens opened up and threw down just exactly what I had been searching for. I’m going to start living the Miracle Morning this week (tomorrow!), so I’ll let you know how it goes for me this time next week. Who knows? It could be just what you are looking for too! 🙂

And of course, if I have time, I’ll whip out John Grisham’s latest, Gray Mountain: A Novel because seriously, who doesn’t love a good John Grisham?

Wellness Journey
Holy Smokes! What an awesome week it has been! I’ve stuck with my program and as of Thursday the 22nd I was 13 lbs down from January 2nd. Wowzers! I feel amazing. This morning when I woke up I felt like my old self. Super happy and positive and full of energy. I remember when I did a cleanse back in 2013, my husband’s comment to me was “you’re just so nice!” Ahem…could it be that this healthy eating with out sugar and junk is positively affecting my personality and behavior? Me thinks we may be on to something!

• Yoga 3 times a week feels amazing.
• Making sure I get 7-8 hours of sleep.  This is huge because all kinds of research is confirming the negative impact lack of sleep has on metabolism. I’m determined to give myself every possible advantage.
• Exercise is included with my Miracle Morning, so I’ll be looking forward to that as well.

I’m just so happy to be moving forward on this goal you guys!  You can’t know how discouraging it is to week after week not only not lose any weight, but even gain!  Week after week and year after year…gets very discouraging.  I just have a feeling getting this on track is positively affecting everything else in my life.  So thankful.

Professionally:

• This past week I was able to get the 2 blog posts in I had planned as well as the speaking engagement last night.  The funny thing with the speaking event was I had prepared a really neat program – but the woman who spoke before me (it was an event to raise money for victims of domestic violence) said something that pricked my heart and when I got up there I felt impressed to give a whole other talk!  That doesn’t happen very often, but when I’m nudged, I’ve learned to listen, so I gave a presentation on forgiveness.  Nothing like a 15 minute impromptu speech.  Thankfully, I’ve spoken on this quite a few times before, so it wasn’t completely off the cuff but I do think it was the message I was supposed to give.  Never a dull moment.
• I did not finish editing my podcast last week.  I had to let go of the idea I would be able to say, “I’ve released a podcast every single week for _____ years.”  You know what, my life is really full and doing my work is just part of it.  I chose to spend extra time with my kids this week rather than edit – and I don’t regret it.  My pride has taken a hit, but seriously.  What matters is so much more than my pride.
• This week I will edit 2 podcasts and release 1.  I’m out of town the following week, so I need to get it ready to go when I’m gone.  I’m also doing 2 interview with some really interesting women, so there should be more good stuff ahead.
• I didn’t make much headway with my book – will work on that again this week in hopes of finishing it up.

Whew!…This is a long post again.  I hope your week was good.  I guess you’ll need to humor me as I work out this exercise of a weekend review.  It’s a good accountability for me, and I hope it’s encouraging for you.

Question:  How did your week go?  Are you living your life intentionally and with purpose?  I’d love to hear your progress.  Just leave your comments below.

Big hugs,
Christy 🙂

PS – There was an article this week that said emoticons were actually positive to use in all types of communication – so now I fee vindicated that I can use smiley faces to my heart’s content. 🙂