Pressing On

I’m on day 26 of my 30 day detox from social media. A lot has happened in twenty six days.  I had made the decision for this 30 day experiment when I found myself habitually gravitating to my phone and absentmindedly clicking on my Instagram App throughout the day. I am not sure when or even how I allowed this device to consume most of my day but it had and I knew I needed to make a change. Starting with the amount of time I spent scrolling. So it was just days before the toilet paper hoarding began that I had logged off of my social media sites. I guess you could call it Social Distancing in a way. I can’t say it was easy. In fact, like any other habit it had many challenges in my breaking it. I had serious  FOMO for the first week or so. What would I be missing and would others miss me? I doubt it but it’s a nice thought.   It has been a very freeing experience. I’m embarrassed to admit that in some ways I feel like I got my life back. I am connecting more...

Too often I live based on my feelings. Feelings are real and I trust God gave them to us for a reason. But if I only listen to my feelings and then act on those I can get into a heap of trouble. I don’t feel like doing the laundry so...I don’t feel like going to the gym so.... I feel like eating ice cream so ... I don’t feel like forgiving that person.... I feel like making sure I’m first in line..... I feel like I should get my way..... I think you get the picture.  And unfortunately, sometimes I let my feelings overrule what I know to be true about God. I don’t always feel His presence. I think that is by design. He wants us to seek Him constantly, seeking His face and His guidance. It’s not like this big game of Hide and Seek. He doesn’t hide from us. He is there! Always! But we can put Him in a box because we just don’t feel Him.  One of my daily prayers is “God, show me you today.”  Then, I go about my day and think I didn’t see Him. Oh, He is there. In ever...

Annie loves running with me. Each morning she waits for me to get ready for the day. She watches my every move to see if I go straight for my running gear. I might confuse her at times if I don’t jump in the shower but fail to put on my running clothes, “Are we going for a walk instead?” Oh but once those Brooks shoes come out of the closet she starts to pace. When I open my middle drawer for my running glasses, it’s game on and she is literally under my feet, weaving in and out, jumping up and down. I will not be going anywhere without her. She is very clear about that. Even if I need to use the bathroom one last time, she pushes her way through to join me. It’s adorable and makes me think that she actually might like me and enjoy my company.  Yesterday was Tuesday which meant for us it’s a cardio day. We run on Tuesdays and Thursdays during most weeks. I love the cooler tempts right now and in Arizona, 47 degrees means we bundle up. I think Annie understands more than I real...

Have you ever heard of Happy Tail? Me either. At least not until our semi sweet chocolate lab came home from boarding with Happy Tail. They explained to me, it’s because Annie is so excited when anyone walks by her kennel; she wags her tail so fiercely that it beats up against the crate. This caused her to rub the fur off of a spot on the tip of her tail. Eventually, the skin broke open and it bled...... therefore she had been diagnosed with Happy Tail.  It cleared up until she had to spend a little more time in her kennel recently. At first I didn’t even notice. Only wondering where all the blood on my walls was coming from. Once I realized it was that Happy Tail again, I wrapped it with gauze and some first aid tape. That lasted only until the doorbell rang and a guest arrived. Several rapid wags and the wrap went flying like a severed finger and the bleeding was all over the walls along with our guest’s pants. So embarrassing! But also poor Annie. It had to hurt. I knew it ...

Often times, I see something that stops me in my tracks and I’m thankful I have my phone so I can snap a photo. I’m one of those who has over 15,000 photos and probably at risk of losing storage space. But I just can’t bring myself to delete the pictures I have taken over the years. Each picture is a memory or story for me. Sometimes I might later see something in that photo that I didn’t see when I took it.  We just got back from an incredible week in Maui. The beauty there is next level and I have an entire album to create of the photos I took. I would stop on our runs to snap a shot of sea turtles or video the waves crashing on the rocky shore. The sunsets and rainbows took my breath away, so I took at least five shots of each one I saw. Ok. I went overboard and should clear up some storage space but it was just amazing! I can’t believe I get to do this!  Jim found a walking trail nearby at what must be an abandoned golf course. We set out for the exercise piece of...

Today I did something I didn’t think I would. In fact, I said I wouldn’t. Didn’t think it was wise. I’m somewhat of a cautious person. Some might even call me paranoid or in my younger years- oh, who am I kidding?In all my years- a scaredy-cat. Maybe it goes back to my childhood nightmares when I was terrified of being kidnapped. Or not wanting to swim in the ocean EVER again after seeing Jaws. Maybe I’ve read too many stories or seen too many episodes of Criminal Minds. But I do lean to the side of caution more often than not.  This week, I tagged along with Jim on a business trip. That’s not the thing I did that I said I wouldn’t. He had bought me tickets for my birthday to see Chris Tomlin at the Red Rocks Amphitheater. Something we both have wanted to do for some time. I had heard about this place. We had seen Chris Tomlin before and love him. So, I was very excited about this trip and the experience of a lifetime.  The concert was AMAZING! It was an incredible ni...

This last move brought us to a new development and we have loved watching this community being built around us. Last spring when we put our deposit down, it was literally a piece of land. We were one of the first in our subdivision. So to see the roads, houses and landscaping go in has been exciting to watch.  With this being our first time to build from the ground up, we were able to document nearly every step of the way. We have photos of the foundation poured, the framing, dry wall and most of the final stages. Jim even walked through and wrote some of our favorite verses on a few of the door frames of the house before the drywall went in. Definitely a special house for us.  Jim enjoys watching the process of the builders who literally drop off a giant wood “ kit” that is numbered off. One day it is just a pile of 2x4’s and what I would assume to be planks and rafters ( I googled it 😉 ) and the next day is a framed off house. It’s impressive. We hav...