Joy Comes in the Morning

Hello there!

It’s been…awhile. Like almost 2 years.

What have I been doing? And what made me decide to jump back on here?

Nothing really. And everything.

To be honest, I didn’t feel like I was able to write about enduring with hope…when my hope had all but disappeared.

Hope for our world, hope for my marriage and hope for myself.

The last 2 years have been…insert just about any and every word here and it will be appropriate. It’s been hard. It’s been scary. Frustrating. Sad. Disappointing. Exciting. And so much more.

I’ve taken a step back from social media; namely, Facebook. I don’t have Instagram and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to give up Pinterest…I have too many recipes saved to convert them all to paper! Never say never though. I stepped back because I felt someone made some unnecessary and hurtful comments towards me. I had wanted to step away for awhile and it was the push I needed. I saw Facebook as an opportunity to encourage others in their faith and to share my life in a genuine and positive way with friends, family and clients. I slowly felt that it was becoming a toxic environment for me and mental health. I had stepped away before for 30 days here and there, but not for months at a time.

It was refreshing.

I learned a lot about myself and just how much time I was wasting looking at NOTHING.

NOTHING.

Nothing good. Nothing positive. Nothing that enriched my life or grew my faith.

That’s what I wanted. I wanted to spend my time doing things that MATTERED. Things that were good.

Good for me. Like reading books. Walking my dog. Spending time with family and friends.

Good for others. Like visiting our elderly, widowed neighbors. Bringing them food and Christmas and birthday presents. And being present with clients at work.

And good for God. Like spending time with Him by reading His Word daily. Worshipping Him in song and with my daily activities. Beholding Him.

It’s been a process.

A worthy undertaking for sure. Purging my life of so many unnecessary things. And making time for what’s really important. This is where my vision board comes in!

I have created 2 other vision boards…one in 2019 and one in 2021. I made them each in January of those years to help remind me about what was important to me and what I wanted to accomplish. And it worked. It works!

Because I have spent time the last 2 years, both purging and investing, God has shown me that it’s time to put into action those things He’s shown me and taught me. He’s helped me to hope again.

I was studying the book of James recently, one of my favorites, and in the margin next to chapter 2 verse 26, I wrote Ephesians 2:10:

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

I thought, what good is all this learning doing, if I don’t apply it? So, I’m starting with me and my life.

Some of the goals I’ve set for myself this year are:

1. To pray for my husband every day. This might seem like a given thing, but I’ve definitely slacked on this lately. The book The Power of a Praying Wife is a great resource to renew this desire in my heart.
2. To renovate our house. We have a mid century home that we’re slowly renovating, but keeping with the mid century theme. If you ever want to learn patience, own a home!
3. To eat more things I love. This means plants! I did the Daniel Fast in January 2021. I should write about that sometime…especially since I said I could never do it! Well, I did and through 2021, I ate more and more plant-based. And it makes me happy. 🙂
4. To try new workouts and take more adventures with our dog, Kevin. Getting fresh air and getting outside every day has become part of my everyday life, but not so much the last 2 days because of a snow storm! I love being at home, but getting outside every day, especially the last 2 years, has become especially important to both my physical and mental health.
5. To read more books and spend my free time wisely. This means picking up my phone less, unless it’s to call or text a friend, family member or client. Just yesterday, I spent over 30 minutes talking to my elderly neighbor about the snow, her life lately and the blizzard of ’78! It was so nice. Time well spent. I also seem to always have a stack of books that I rarely pick up or finish. I have a habit of reading more than one book at a time, but I’ve been trying to read just one at a time.
6. To try new things at work. To do things a little different. To take risks. To work on my opportunities instead of making excuses for myself.

If you’ve never made a vision board, you should try it! It doesn’t have to be fancy, it could be a list you keep on your fridge, but if you’ve never made one like this, you should.

Here’s to 2022!