Skip to main content

31 Days to Keep a Tender Heart: October 31

 
Well, I did it. I blogged for 31 days on one topic.
I was reminded of last fall when I blogged almost every day during Fire in the Night. I find that having a challenge to write daily helps me to write more. But, I also tend to put pressure on myself to do it perfectly, which means that I have to post every day. I intentionally chose not to blog on Sundays, to give myself a day of rest, and I took a few more days when I didn’t have anything to write. This protected me from the pressure of perfection because I started with an imperfect goal.
I hope that my heart is tenderer today, October 31, than it was on October 1. But, I am realizing more and more that I have to fight to keep a tender heart. Pursuing the goal to write about having a tender heart almost daily helped me to do more heart checks and take action when I discovered hardened places.
I haven’t had any big discoveries or significant insights. The only thing that felt really different was that I was inviting others into what I was thinking and feeling on a more regular basis. What was happening with me became the material for my posts and I opened the door for other people to see behind my “fine” façade. So many of you shared wonderful feedback with me and I really appreciated your words and reactions.
I have come to accept that I am a “blogger”, though this was much more difficult for me to see than it was for so many of you. I really do enjoy writing. And, I think that there is something valuable and vulnerable and healing in sharing my thoughts and feelings in a public way on a regular basis. I don’t know how often I will be posting now that October is finishing, but I have the intention to make it a regular habit.
Still Counting Gifts:
·         #625: How Lily always waits to greet me just outside the bathroom door
·         #626: Making coffee
·         #627: God values me and my work, however small we may seem
·         #628: Teaching others how to fight for joy and overcome suffering
·         #629: Doing things for the first time
·         #630: When Karyn picks out my clothes and everyone complements my outfit
·         #631: Finding a TV show to share
·         #632: Going home at the end of the day

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Back to School

Well, after four years away from school counseling, I have decided to return. Yes, I'm keeping my private practice in counseling. I will be reducing the number of clients that I see on a weekly basis in order to work 20 hours a week as a school counselor at Rockford Christian Elementary School. This comes in the midst of conversations that I have been having with God about desire. In fact, pursuing this position kind of started those conversations. My good friend Mackenzie, who works in the business office at RCS, told me about the position innocently enough. She wanted me to have the information about the position in case I had any counselor friends who might be interested in applying. What neither she nor I could have known, was how desire would stir in my heart as soon as she started to describe it to me. There are things that I have come to absolutely love in private practice counseling. I love being my own boss, setting my own hours and having complete freedom over...
1 comment
Read more

When Creative Desire Stirs

The past 3 months have felt crazy. And during all these months of crazy, busy activity in my life, desire has been stirring in the background of my heart. I read things that other people write and feel myself come alive. I talk with people and hear things that God is speaking and want to write them down and share. I listen to music, sing to the Lord and long to create something that will help other people to connect with God in worship. It has been over two months since I touched our piano. Or any piano, for that matter. This is also my first blog post in almost 3 months. Crazy months, yes. But, 3 months all the same. I feel sad about these things. And scared to start again. What if I have lost everything that I had developed? But even fear of the possible frustration of starting again has not been able to change my desire. My desire has only been stirring and growing all this time. My desire is to resume creating. With piano. With words. This is week 9 of my training for t...
Post a Comment
Read more

10 days of wedding anticipation

On the 10 th day before my wedding… I put on my fall colors. I usually like to go a little darker in the fall and winter months, although I keep the ombre style all year long. Chrissy Tripodi, at Studio Blu, does an amazing job! We have these little chats before she does my hair. I tell her what I'm thinking and she is full of great ideas. I never know exactly what my hair will look like when she's done, but I have never been anything less than thrilled with her work. This time we even looked at pictures on pinterest and talked about what my hair would look like for the wedding. Chrissy put some extra colors in the hair around my face so that when she puts it all up, there will be lots of dimension to enjoy.  Ben came too. He wanted to get his hair trimmed. Chrissy cut his hair while my color was setting. We might make it a tradition to get our hair cut together. We went together just before my sister’s wedding too and it's been great both times. Our shared...
Post a Comment
Read more