Have you ever watched a child play? They are so good about using their imaginations and adventuring to different places. Last month I met up with a neighbor friend who I haven’t seen in at least ten years. She is married with two young children. After lunch, we went to a local mall to play in their play area. M climbed right up into the toy jeep and then told me to get in so I climbed into the jeep. Needless to say, I wasn’t very comfortable as I am much bigger than a child, but I found myself laughing as M kept telling me where he was taking me. Why can’t we be more like children and be more spontaneous?

I’ll admit that I like being home, but I also have learned that when I do travel and adventure, I fall in love with the people and places I get to experience for the first time: Nashville with my sister last summer, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and so many other places. Yet I have not always been good at being spontaneous or an adventurer.

However, sometimes you just have to take the plunge. When I was in college, my friend Kristi and I decided to be spontaneous one night. Neither of us were the most spontaneous people in the world but Kristi was craving Olive Garden pasta and the nearest Olive Garden was approximately four hours away. So we hopped in Kristi’s car and drove to Fargo. We ate pasta, rented a hotel at a very seedy hotel and then got up the next morning and drove back to Bismarck. It is a memory that is ingrained in my mind because it taught both of us that it is great to be spontaneous.

Last night, I was watching Annie F. Down’s Looking for Lovely Party when she shared about the Looking for Lovely weekend in Nashville. The cost of the weekend is rather reasonable. I looked at the calendar and realized that it is a two day weekend that I could totally swing. The only problem is that flights to Nashville from Minot ND are usually rather expensive! 🙁 So while I want to be an adventurer and meet one of my fave authors in the world, I will have to wait on this adventure.

Sometimes life is like that, isn’t it? Life gets in the way of our being adventurers. Yet I still believe that we are all called to be adventurers. God wants us to explore this awesome creation that God created. In doing so, as adventurers, it is so much easier for us to find the lovely in the world. So will you join me in being adventurers as we continue to look for lovely in our world?

I am linking up with Holley Gerth and Coffee for your Heart and Kristin and Three Word Wednesday! 

 

Last night I was making Korean Bao sliders from my Blue Apron box. As I was frying the hamburger, I kept finding myself returning the hamburger to the pan at the sight of any red or pink meat. I’m a woman who loves her meat very well done so I had to make sure my meat was well cooked. In fact, I don’t want to see any hints of rawness exposed which got me thinking more about life.

How raw are you? Are you willing to be raw, real and vulnerable? Or are you afraid to expose yourself to the people around me? Exposing ourselves, in all our raw vulnerability and glory, is almost impossible to do. I know it took me a long time to show myself to the world; to share parts of my story that I never wanted to tell. Yet I’m reminded of Brene Brown’s words “The bravest thing you’ll ever do is tell your story.”

I believe that God wants us to be open and raw with one another; to remind each other that we are not on this journey alone. In fact, in sharing our stories, we no longer hide our own skinned knees, but rather compare our scars with one another; scars that like the scars left on Jesus’ hands after his crucifixion and resurrection remind us of the ultimate power of God.

It’s scary to expose ourselves. Yet God made each one of us unique. God wants us to show all of who God created us to be; as “fearfully and wonderfully made” beings. It may be scary, yet in exposing ourselves, we remind each other of the gift of who we are.

It’s important to be real and raw. This week my friend MG voxed me and shared how she appreciated my realness, my rawness and my vulnerability in sharing my story. To be honest, those are words that  15 years ago, you wouldn’t have heard about me. But over the years, I’ve learned the value of being raw. In being raw, I show every part of who I am even those parts I don’t even want to share.

Are you willing to be real, vulnerable and raw too?

I’m linking up with Holly and Testimony Tuesday, Kelly and the RaRa linkup, and Jennifer and Tell His Story.

 

I have never seen myself as a quitter. I rode my book without training wheels. But you know, I think, there are other areas in my life where I might be a quitter.

For the last six summers, I have attended a continuing education event in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. My first summer, some of the locals offered to take us on a “family friendly” hike. I decided to go on that hike, but little did I realize how “family friendly” was not the same to me. Half way through that hike, I thought I was going to die (I might have been a little dramatic!) I seriously didn’t think I was going to be able to finish that hike, but I seriously kept putting one foot in front of the other.

Yet maybe in my own ways, I was ready and willing to turn around and just quit. Then I was convicted by Annie F. Downs when she wrote: “I could already see that in my little bit of walking the trails, the suffering has made me persevere, my character (my strength) had grown, and I had hope to keep going. God was showing me in nature, and in my body, what has always been true in my spirit if I would choose to see it that way. He was literally changing me from the inside out (Looking for Lovely, P. 166).”

God is indeed changing me and you from the inside out. I want to be a woman who both perseveres and clings to grace. In the words of Annie Downs, I want to be a woman who is marked by grace and perseverance as partners (Looking for Lovely, P. 167)”

Taking that first step and doing the things that are hard, we are no longer quitters. We will be people who take a few steps rather than no steps at all. “I just had to keep showing up, even when it hurt or felt hard or wasn’t AT ALL what I wanted to do (Looking for Lovely, P. 39)”

As I prepare to be a step taker rather than a quitter, I want to share some of my fave quotes from Annie’s latest book. I could share so many but I’ll limit them to a few today.

“The things you want, the things you love, the things that make you cry, and the things that make you laugh, and the things that make you more angry than you thought you could be–it’s a rare combination. In fact, it’s a one-of-a-kind combination. Because God made you that way. On purpose. Your looks. Your loves. Your losses. They are you (Looking for Lovely, P. 44)

“My ability to feel the depths of something good was strengthened by my choice to feel the depths of pain (Looking for Lovely, P. 75).”

“And what I’m almost too afraid to think about, if I’m being honest with you, is what this means for the tears I’ve cried over my singleness. Because…THEY HAVE BEEN CRIED AND WILL BE CRIED AGAIN. How can something dwarf the heartache and loneliness I’ve felt my whole adult life? How can that be? I question if it can, to be honest. That’s just the truth of what I feel. I love my life and I’m so grateful for all I have, but it certainly isn’t the kind of joy that makes the tears seem tiny (Looking for Lovely, P. 83).”

“Your people remind you of the goodness of God and remind you of what it means to finish (Looking for Lovely, P. 143).”

If you don’t know the low down, Thursday night is the night for FMF party where we gather and catch up on life and wait for our gracious host Kate to give us the word prompt for the week. Tonight we talked about all things Gilmore Girls. We lived vicariously through our friends who are together at the Festival of Faith and Writers. I seriously gush over these people and this community at every chance I get. I am so blessed by each of them and cannot wait until we meet in real life. Love you peeps!!

I am linking up for the Five Minute Friday. The FMF is hosted by Kate Motaung on her blog Heading Home. Today’s prompt is “easy.”


Learning how to ride a bike isn’t the easiest thing in the world, is it? Most kids have to ride around with training wheels on their bikes. They ride around until they have balance and the tires are no longer on the ground. That is a sure sign that they are probably ready to ride their bike. But that doesn’t mean there won’t still be skinned knees and elbows.

For me, learning to ride a bike was fairly easy. My parents surprised me with my first bike for my 5th Birthday. I had many friends over for my party. I had to solve the scavenger hunt clues until it led me to my new bike. I was so excited!!! My friends had me sit on the bike. They held on and pushed me while I pedaled. After awhile, my friends let go of my bike and I was still peddling. I was riding my bike by myself.

Riding my bike came easy for me, but for others, it maybe doesn’t come as easily. For some writing might come easy. For others, singing might come easy. Life is like that isn’t it? Life isn’t always easy. Life is full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows and so much more. We grieve. We cry. We struggle.  I truly believe that life isn’t suppose to be easy. In fact, I came across this quote and it is so full of truth: “Nothing worth having comes easy!” Amen!