Skip to main content

Toss Back Tuesday: Letting Go a Little & Father's Workshop.


TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013
Letting Go a  Little.

I feel like the Lord is tutoring me lately.  It's amazing how the Spirit can soften my heart and help me to change like no one else.  For as long as I can remember I've clung to structure and my way of doing things.  For the last several years I've worked so hard to become more of a scheduled, disciplined, organized person.  I love having my weekly menus planned out, staying within a budget, trying to keep my house in order.  Although these are all important things, I'm starting to realize that they are not the end goal...they are the means to a much larger goal.

 This week we were fortunate to have cousins over to play.  Their van wasn't starting and a morning play date was running into nap time.  I was trying to be flexible, but I kept thinking that the girls might wake up my sleeping boys...then what?  How would I get dinner fixed?  As these thoughts were running through my head the next question came to mind...so what?  So what if your schedule is thrown off?  So what if dinner isn't on the table right at 5:30?  It may sound silly, but honestly it was as if I had been holding so tightly to my routine that I didn't realize that life could be OK even if things didn't go as planned.  In the end, they got their van working, I was able to enjoy holding my niece and spend a little bit more time with my Sister-in-Law & other nieces, the boys didn't wake up and dinner did get on the table.  What if I had missed out on those moments or put a damper on them by giving into the temptation to be stressed?  I'm so glad that I took a deep breath and tried to follow the Spirit's lead.

 Going along with that thought, I feel like the Lord is also trying to help me be more others-centered.  For all of the reasons I just mentioned, this can be a hard one for me.  BUT it feels good to be making steps in that direction.  Joy truly can be found in serving others and it is sweet.  I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to help a sister in my ward at church.  As I dropped something off at her house I told her that we obviously didn't know each other very well, but that the Lord knew and loved her and wanted me to do this for her.  There is almost nothing sweeter than following a prompting, being on the Lord's errand, and feeling the love He has for others.  The times I choose to follow promptings from the Spirit, I truly feel that the Lord would be doing and saying those very things if He could, and that I get to stand in His place.  What a great love and concern He has for others!

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014
Father's Workshop.

I was thinking about an experience that I had as a new missionary in Québec City, and wanted to make sure and include it in our family history.

 I was called to serve as a French-speaking missionary, but after a short time in the mission field my mission president, President Petion asked me to start learning Spanish during my morning studies.  I excitedly accepted the invitation, but quickly became overwhelmed.  I was over zealously attempting to learn all of the verb tenses simultaneously and quickly {and understandably} found myself frustrated and getting burnt out.  One night before bed as I was kneeling in prayer I voiced to my Heavenly Father my feelings of being overwhelmed.  The thought came to me that He had asked me to learn Spanish because He knew I loved languages and He wanted to work on it as a project together, the intent was never to frustrate or overwhelm!  In my mind I envisioned a father inviting his child into a workshop to do a project together.  It wasn't so much the finished product that would be important, but the lessons learned and the time spent together.

 I have often thought of this since.  What other projects has my Father invited me to work on with Him?  What things may seem daunting because I have tried to do them in my own way and inadvertently left Him out of the picture?

 Lately I'm coming to realize that this season with Alex may be one of these invitations into the Father's workshop.  I'm grateful for the invitation and know that as I turn to Him each step of the process He will be there to guide me, to provide perspective and share His love.

 Oh how much He desires to teach and to bless us and to spend time with us!  God is good.
(Watch my video here on the Father's Workshop and the joy of spending time & serving with Him)

10 April 2018

More than a decade ago, (as alluded to above) I served a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (in Montréal, Canada).  This is a quote I had on my dresser for awhile.  I still feel a sweet & powerful spirit as I read it's words:



Do you believe that you can be a representative of Jesus Christ in the things you say and do?  How has God called you in to His workshop to worth with Him?  How can that transform the way you look at your challenges?  What joy has come as you spend time with Him working on these projects instead of facing them alone?


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you!

Popular Posts

GIVEAWAY! **CLOSED**

(See Introduction video here) On my journey for greater overall health, my sister introduced me to Lauren Daigle.  Have you heard her music before??  I fell in LOVE with it, bought her CD and have been listening to it on repeat for almost 2 months!  Her voice is beautiful, her lyrics are so inspired and uplifting and her music is energizing.  I've been buying copies and sharing them with close family and friends (in fact in my intro video I'm holding up a print out of her album because I recently gave my copy away too.) AND decided I want to share the love with one of YOU & one of your friends. SO, the Giveaway WINNER will get 2 copies of the album mailed directly to their house. TEN Ways to Enter the Giveaway: (You can enter as many times as is specified below BUT only comments listed below on this post will be counted) 1) Watch my intro video (linked above) and comment below on what brought you here to the By His Grace I Can Blog Blog. (1 entry)
27 comments
Read more

Motherhood Monday: Waiting for Me.

I wanted to share one of the reasons that I haven't posted in several months. September 2016, at 10 weeks pregnant, our fifth baby earned its wings. It was a really painful and poignant time for our family, yet through it we saw how God brings sweetness to bitter experiences.   At the time I decided to share some of my thoughts from that day in the hospital-- Well, a little over a year and a half later we are expecting again!  We are overjoyed and feel incredibly grateful.  As I write that, it dawns on me that this little one is due right around Thanksgiving and what appropriate timing.  We are indeed SO very thankful. In part I wanted to share this news here because my mental health has been part of the journey.  We wanted to try sooner for a baby but I felt strongly that I needed to take some time for myself to get my health in better order, especially my mental health.  How far the Lord has brought me this last year!!  I feel so much more stable and capable.
Post a Comment
Read more

Why I started Therapy and an Introduction to Intentional Happiness & Self-Leadership.

Click Here for Video. If I took a look at my life it essentially had all the elements that I would handpick, yet I was constantly trying to escape my reality.  Usually I escaped through endless, mindless, insatiable scrolling on social media and by eating junk food.  But nothing seemed to fill the void.  I was almost always tired, irritable, easily angered and annoyed.  I loved spending time with my husband or by myself, but it was never enough.  I did things I enjoyed but felt like I was stealing the time or being selfish.  In spite of my extremely supportive husband, each day felt like an uncontrollable vicious cycle with no way of changing things.  Showering, getting ready, and exercising didn't feel like priority or even possibilities.  Regardless of my efforts I chronically felt behind in everything.   My kids seemed more burdensome than anything else, with never-ending messes, requests, tantrums, fights, whining and complaining.  The resentment I felt towards them seemed
5 comments
Read more

You're a Gem.

This morning, in conjunction with seeking light & inspiration at a nearby temple (of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), I had a very sweet and powerful experience.  With it being the weekend, I was going to wait and type it up next week, but when I saw that it was International Women's Day, I knew I needed to take the time to share this TODAY. While driving away from my house this morning I had the idea to text a song to a friend of mine.  I've learned to as-immediately-as-possible follow through with the whisperings of God's spirit, so I pulled over and sent the text.  Next came the thought to tell her how amazing she is, that she is just the way God needs her to be (strengths, weaknesses, insecurities and all) and that He works beautifully through her. That phrase made me think of a prism and how it refracts light.  The words came to me, "We're each unique prisms (with the different faces & facets of our personalities and testimonies
8 comments
Read more

Officially Facing My Dragons.

I'll be honest, although mental illness runs in my family and definitely played a role in my upbringing, I wasn't keen on the idea of looking in to my own mental health.  The societal stigmas kept me stressing over all of the "what ifs" instead of seeking for answers & solutions.  Finally in the Fall of 2017 my mental health was negatively influencing my physical health to such a degree that I felt sick and debilitated most days.  It was unsustainable, especially as the mother of 4 young & active children and a new puppy.  Something had to change.  I ended up doing a Facebook Live (see video here ), sharing an impression I'd had regarding my mental health.  Little did I know that the comments I received would be more important than what I shared.  They were a springboard for finally being brave enough to officially face my dragons.  I say officially because I'd done my  best to deal with my anxiety for years and I KNOW that God has been with me every
Post a Comment
Read more