30 Day Challenge - Day 2

Can you imagine that? Day 2 of my own personal challenge falls on the weekend. WHAT!?! The time when all my commitments fly out the window. My day started out with attending a networking event with local mom bloggers and business owners. This was not an easy task in and of itself because I am not a very outgoing person. I love adventure, but I prefer to be with people I know and am comfortable with when I'm adventuring.

Something I've been trying though is pushing myself to meet new people. I barely spoke to anyone there, but I'm proud of myself because I stepped out of the door of my own house when I wanted to just crawl in to bed where it was safe. I even had a chance to turn around because I ran late.

​When I arrived at the location the front door of the building was locked. I could have turned around and just walked away, but I didn't. I made myself type in the number and text the post it note person that I was waiting outside the door. Funny story. I mistyped the number the first time. I promise, whoever you are mystery person, I am not a stalker and I'm not standing out your door. At all!

I will admit, I was tired today. I helped my husband work on organizing our garage when I got home. I ran a trunk load of our junk and another person's treasures to the thrift store, ran another errand for my husband and then came home with our very active three year old. We played together for a little bit and then I got to work on fulfilling my commitments despite the fatigue and the little voice that said to just go ahead and give in and start again Monday. So here it is...

Action #1 - Be Thankful

So today's question was to list your favorite meal and why it is your favorite meal. Now, for the average person, thinking about your favorite meal, may not lead you to a reason why you are thankful, but for me (the food lover of all things delicious) it does. In fact, a lot of my memories can be tied to food. I can tell you the time period, what we were doing, what kind of day it was, if we were having fun or not, etc. No joke.

​My favorite meal is cheese lasagna. My forever friend makes this dish. Before I got married, I would go with my friend to events that she was catering and help her cook, serve and clean up. I loved the leftovers that I usually got to take home with me. There is no one that makes a better cheese lasagna. Believe me. I've tried, but no one compares. 

The thing is, when I eat cheese lasagna now, I think about those times that we would travel with a car packed to the seems with catering dishes, food and sometimes her toddler. We would unpack everything and then spend all day in the kitchen together cooking, laughing, listening to music and talking. I remember, cleaning up and being completely exhausted as we drove home, but completely fulfilled. I remember, knowing in my heart of hearts that this friend loved me for who I was and wanted nothing but the best for me and provided every opportunity she could to present new opportunities for me in life.

We no longer live near each other. It isn't convenient to just hop in the car and drive over to visit her. I miss her. I miss her knowledge and understanding. I miss the long conversations we could have about absolutely nothing and I definitely miss the times where we could just sit together not even having to say a word. Friends like this are few and far between. I really wish I had understood then, that friendships like that are not that common. I may not have taken that friendship so much for granted and treasured it just a little more than I did.

Action #2 - Devotions, Journaling & Prayer

Today's devotions in "Embraced" was all about getting in to God's Word. Lysa really encouraged the reader to stop just reading God's Word second hand via (yes, ironically) devotionals and messages and really dig in to His Word. This really made me glad that I have made inscribing scripture part of my devotions routine that I am committing to. Some of the take away's from today's devotional are:

• I started getting in to God's Word so it could get into me. I actually desire this. I want my actions and my words to be a reflection of God in me. If this isn't reason to get in to the Bible and really study it, I don't know what is. I've started with inscribing the word. It doesn't cover a lot of scriptures everyday, but honestly if I'm going to get in to God's Word I want it to be quality vs quantity.
• I wanted God's Word to interrupt me, change me and satisfy me. I can be a strong willed, opinionated person. As I have aged, I've come to realize wisdom in stepping back and just listening. I'm not perfect by all means, but I can tell you there are times I have stopped and listened for God's direction. I strive to make this more of a consistent occurrence.

I was definitely challenged in today's reading to really dig in to the scriptures that I am reading so that I can truly understand the heart of God.

In Girl Be Brave, I was further encouraged to be ok with changing directions. Honestly, I struggle with being flexible. I pretend I am flexible, but let me tell you when things are not going to plan I struggle hard. I may be smiling on the outside and saying everything is fine, but when my plans have changed it takes me a few days to recover in the aftermath of that shift. Some of the take away's are:

• The problem with loving your plans too much is that sometimes along the way to your goal, you'll need to change lanes.
• As we are travelling to our glorious destination, the route we take to get there may turn out to be different than we expected. It's okay to cling to the goal, but be flexible with the plan.
• Loosening the reigns a bit will allow space in the plan for unexpected divinity.

What!?! If I just let go of the reigns and let God be in control something divine could happen? Shut the front door. God help me. I needed this message today. I need to be willing to dig in to God's Word to draw closer to Him and I need to just be willing to hand my plans over to Him and let Him show me what He can do with my life. Note, I didn't say I wouldn't work for it. I'm a firm believer in God gives us the ability and we need to use it, but I know that I am sometimes less willing to turn from a plan. I wonder how many blessings I have missed out by not letting God lead me to my goals?

One of the things that Inscribing The Word encourages you to do is to personalize the scriptures your reading that day. I'm going to go ahead and just give you my modified version and you read it to yourself, for yourself:

• I can rejoice, too, when I run into problems and trials, for I know that they help me develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character and character strengthens my confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For I know how dearly God loves me, because He has given me the Holy Spirit to fill my heart with His love.

Are you crying? I did! It's ok if you did. I won't tell anyone.

Action #3 - Exercise

Woot! Friends, I did it. My son interrupted me like three bajillion times. I had to stop and start where I was to help him find a toy, help him put two lego pieces together, to tell Alexa (she doesn't like the way he says her name and he isn't patient about his demands) to play Blippi for him. But I did it. I finished a twenty-seven minute work out in fifty-two minutes. About half way through, I had to modify in a big way because my knee started to hurt, but I was able to at least keep pace with the workout. I finished it though and I didn't quit. 

Day two is in the books. I'm excited to see where the rest of this month takes me.

How about you? How did you do with your own personal goals today?

Note: Anything I have italicized is not my own words, but are either paraphrased or directly from a book. I try to make it clear from which book the writing is from, but if you are unsure, please ask. Also, if you click on any links that lead you to Amazon from this page and you then purchase the product that you clicked on I may or may not earn money from your purchase.