Rekindle

Time to rekindle my spirit. I saw an article on Facebook a while back that struck a chord with me. It deals with the time of Lent when many Christians give up something that they normally enjoy as a means of clearing away worldly distractions and to drawing closer to God. Unfortunately, as this article states, "these things often have little impact on our life and our walk with Christ." In the past I've given up things like...peanut butter...Facebook....sometimes nothing at all. Most times it has done nothing to enhance my faith. I'm sure my attitude in doing so was the main issue, but this year I would like to try something new. I realize it is nowhere near time for Lent, but I would like to use this article more as a goal for the new year.

There are 40 topics on which to focus, one for each day of Lent. In my case, one for each....week? day? month? Not sure how I want to direct my energy at this point, but I know that these are all areas that could use some refining in my life...and probably in yours as well. If you're human, I bet you struggle with most of these just like I do.

Here are some examples: Focus on giving up.....fear of failure, your comfort zone, feelings of unworthiness, impatience, people pleasing, comparison, etc. The list goes on. I will post link at the bottom  of this post if you want to join me in giving up some of these evils that keep us from having joy in our lives. Its going to take effort for sure, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

I think I will start tomorrow.

Click HERE for the link.

Holiday Cheer and Happy 60th to Dad

This morning I woke up feeling thankful. I'm sipping an Arctic White hot chocolate Christmas gift from one of my students and realizing that I am off work until January 4th. Its going to be glorious. Reflecting on the last week of school, I am so grateful for all the sweet students we have and the relationships I have with the wonderful people I work with. Blessed for sure. Everyone has been so GIVING this season. I, on the other hand, have not been a very good steward of my time and have not done nearly as much as I would like to in terms of gift giving and holiday cheer. I'm going to play the "new house" card again and blame it on that. It really threw me off my routine and that's not good because I am a creature of habit. Must be the special ed teacher in me.

Today will be a great day for 2 reasons: A) I am finally getting back into my beloved yoga studio for a "Sanctify the Season" practice. It is a special yoga class " sprinkled with scripture, Christian meditative prayer, and plenty of sweat." Some of my favorite things all in one place. B) Its my dad's 60th birthday! Hard to believe...he sure doesn't seem 60. I wish you many, many, many more years of everything that makes you happy!

Before Christmas is over, I wanted to share some of my favorite door decorations from our school hallways. These made me laugh...If you notice, the sign 'Dancer' the reindeer is holding says, "watch me Nae Nae."