30 Day Challenge - Day 7

It's cold friends! I'm not ready for this. Like, I haven't had time to mentally prepare for this. Despite the cold, it has been a good day.

Joe & I went with his daddy to get his oil changed. While we waited we grabbed something to eat. We had a great time playing with a monkey hand puppet and monkey finger puppet that I had stuffed in my purse. Life as a mom! Am I right? But the laughs and giggles we had make a purse stuffed full of toys totally worth it.

It's day seven, so this makes a week that I have consistently posted to my blog, read my devotions, have thought about something to be thankful for and exercised. Whoa! I am pretty proud of myself.

Action #1 - Be Thankful

Today's thankful question is all about what traditions mean the most. I have to say that Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's family is one of those traditions that are meaningful to me. It was one of the things that I first loved about his family. The one day a year where they would all get together and spend time together playing games, laughing, watching tv... eating.

It reminded me of all the family get together's we would have when I was young and my grandma and grandpa's house. The song says "don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone". Do you know what I would give to have those days back? Together with my grandma and grandpa. All the aunts and uncles and cousins. Those were good times. I remember eating taco salad until I was stuffed full. Yes, I said taco salad. That was my grandma's signature dish. I wish I had valued my time with my family more. Some have passed away and some have moved away. I may have just enjoyed myself more and soaked up more time with them while I had that time with them.

Action #2 - Devotions, Journaling & Prayer

I feel like I could have written today's Embraced devotions myself. Honestly. I should just type the whole devotions in because it is almost word for word what I have been talking about the last few days when I talk about where I want my relationship with God to be.

Lysa puts in a prayer that she starts her morning time with and then breaks it down. I want to put that prayer in and I combined it with the breakdown because I feel it gives it so much depth.

• God I want to see You. I want to see you working in me, around me and through me. I want to hear You. I want to hear your voice so clearly that I won't doubt when you ask for my obedience. I want to know You. I don't just want to know facts about You, but I want to really know You personally and intimately. I want all of this so that I can follow hard after You. I want to be the woman You want me to be in every circumstance of my day.

This is powerful! I can tell you that I am not one for scripted prayers, but this is going to be something that I add to at the beginning of my prayers because I need to hear it and say it on a daily basis. I need to remember why I need God in my life.

Oh man, Girl Be Brave was on point for me today. I needed to hear some of this encouragement. I still am amazed at myself in how easy I am ready to just give up sometimes. This challenge has not been easy for me. It requires consistency and that is not one of my finer traits. Unless you count binge watching The Office a good trait, then sign me up because I can do that pretty consistently with no real issues. 

I love that these daily inspirations are only a page long, but pack one of the biggest punches ever. Here are a couple of my takeaways from today's reading:

• Opportunities come to people who are already walking toward their goal.
• Actions are what separate those who live a life of purpose from those who sit it out, wondering why they never found fulfillment. I know too many people who do this. Including myself.
• A person can cover a lot of ground putting one foot in front of the other.

I've forgotten to include my Inscribe The Word the last couple of days. I don't want to discount this or leave it out because I have to say that I have felt the benefit of reading these passages of scripture daily. Today's reading is Galatians 5:13-15.

• For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Ouch! We've been given so much, but we have to love one another. I have to say that even though I did my devotions earlier this morning I still struggled with this today because I'm human I guess. I get annoyed or frustrated and I open my mouth.

God please help me to love unconditionally like You. Help me to remember that everyone has a story and help me to see that story so that I can understand them better and love them like You do.

Action #3 - Exercise

I have no idea why I resist yoga so much. I always imagine myself being completely miserable and then I just do it and enjoy myself immensely. Today was a yoga day in my routine. I had put it off yesterday and did just some walking and light exercises around the house because my lower back was hurting, but honestly now (I say this every time) I wish I had done the yoga yesterday. I imagine it would have helped me feel so much better. 

So that's it! Day seven is in the books. Only twenty-three more days to go. If you are doing this along with me then go ahead and high five yourself, because I am. I am honestly so proud of myself right now for sticking to this commitment.

Be blessed!

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. ​