Don't & Remember

Two frequent commands we read in Scripture:

Don't be afraid: just think about how applicable this is. Every day, we're afraid of something. Failure, rejection, losing someone, going bankrupt, wondering how you can make it to the next day, raising kids wrong, burning dinner, posting too many pictures on instagram, you name it, and we can be afraid.

Does it seem a little trite that God just says, "Don't"? Like when you're really upset about something and someone flippantly says, "I'm sure it'll work out." Really? You're sure? YOU are sure? What power do you have?

But when God says, "Don't" it actually carries weight, because... drum roll please... He actually has power. I don't have many answers today, just thoughts and more questions about why we really fear. What is at its base? I want to think about that this year.

The other: Remember. God would say it to the Israelites all the time. Remember what I did for you...  I always knew about ebenezers, that were piles of rocks that they would stack when God would do something just incredible, so that when people passed them by they would remember the Lord. But I didn't know until recently (or I had never really thought about it) that when they were walking through the desert for 40 years, it was so flat, that they could turn around and literally see for MILES, and in this horizon they would see piles of rocks and remember. Isn't that crazy? That on a tough day, they could simply turn around and stop and stare and remember what God had done.

My thought jumps to, oh I wish we lived then. Or I wish we lived when things were more simple, or when this happened or that happened. But the crazy thing is, we live in a time where I have more pictures of my bedroom rug than my great grandmother had of her parents. I have volumes of journals dictating my thoughts through life sitting in a dusty rubber maid container in my attic that I never read. I have videos of everyone I have ever know at my disposal in a few clicks. I have anything I even wanted sitting in my DVR que, waiting to be watched.  And we still forget.

This year I want to remember more. I want to reflect more. That's part of the blog revamp. I'm still writing in my daily "line a day" journal every night (entering my 4th year- crazy!!!) and also doing this cute little free download from Paper Coterie once a week. Just different ways to remember: some public for some accountability and the sharing factor and some private because not every thought we have should be published.

Happy Sunday. So far I've blogged, written & even turned on my sewing machine- not too shabby for my resolutions.

And what's a post without a pic? Here's something worth remembering: me on a pony out in front of a Kroger store moments before the infamous missing purse incident of 1988.

Getting in the Game

I've always been a huge proponent of participants over observers.  Part of it, is my nature. I am in or I am out; not a lot in between. If you're at a party, be in a conversation that is taking people somewhere. If you're in a Bible study, speak up, share your heart. If you're shopping and someone is lost, go help them. I'm a big fan of jumping into the action versus waiting for someone else to do it.

I'm also a huge hypocrite.

While I've probably done all the above, I've also sat silently waiting for someone else to lead, driven past a broken down car hoping someone else would stop, because it's WAAAY easier to live life at your own speed and on your own agenda.

When it comes to the online world that is so second nature to us we can't even remember what it felt like to wake up and not check your e mail in bed, I'm pushing myself to be a participant. I love blogs: ones about nail polish designs, DIY, home decor, people's kids, photography, you name it, it's in my google reader (or ipad Feedly). Once upon a time I had a blog called Suzz News where I wrote random musings from time to time and one to two people occasionally read it. I was fine with that. I had promised a friend of mine to keep a blog when I moved from Maryland to North Carolina and I have done a horrible job of keeping it up.

I have two New Years Resolutions this year: to learn how to use my sewing machine and to push myself to be a participant in the wild world of blogs that I love so dearly.

I have mulled in my head over and over how to do this blog, what it is, who I want to read it, what to post, and how to be transparent without being that weirdo that over shares and you wonder if she has friends in real life. On a long car ride with a friend, I went on and on and on about my blog quandaries and finally asked for her advice. She simply said: "I think you just need to write."

Write on.

Here's to a year of writing, sewing and more tiny hats. Happy 2013!