Your opinion matters!

Ha, before you think I'm asking you fill out a survey in which I promise you a robot who cleans your kitchen or tells you that your jeans look amazing.... I just thought I'd ask what standards are you living up to?

I listed mine below and I think it might be neat to hear from you. Sometimes confession is freeing because by saying it out loud, the power is taken away from those standards. So eat your heart out Jillian and your muscular arms!

Standards

Whose standards are you living by? I have been thinking about that question and here are the standards I've been living by:

1. Jillian on The Biggest Loser, I mean REALLY!? Who has arms like that?!

2. My parents.

3. The lady that checks out my groceries at Walmart as I try and explain why I've bought that many Easy Macs.

4. The people that pass me on my jogs in my neighborhood, I might start tripping them or just continue muttering something about having shorter legs.

5. My professors... pretty sure I've set the bar pretty low at this point.

6. Amy Poehler, am I making her proud?

7. Don't even get me started on Feist or Zooey Deschanel.

8. Donna Reed or Martha Stewart... both of which would have an aneurysm if they came into my house as the dust tumbleweeds blew across the floor over their perfectly shined shoes.

SO, I'm sure there are more humiliating standards on my list that will come up as I look through the J.Crew catalog tomorrow but those 8 will do for now. I should probably start living by God's standards instead of numbers 1-8. I'd also probably think about sucking in my stomach less and more about what I actually have to offer eh?

Where to now?

Why do we think we have to go somewhere else to experience life? I find myself thinking, "Well if I were only here _____, then I could do _____." I think I'd be cooler and friends with Don Miller if I lived in Portland. I think I'd be a more focused musician if I lived in Nashville. I think I'd be in better shape if I lived out west and hiked all the time. I think I'd be more creative if I got to live at the beach. I think I'd be more social and have more friends if I lived in.... the list goes on.

My life is happening right now and I've made it boring by all of my wishing I was somewhere else. But I'm realizing that I don't have to be anywhere else or with anyone else or doing anything else for my life to be exciting. It's go time.

Get over yourself!

Who often gets in the way of your adventures, your freedom, your success, your experiences, your capacity to love without fear? You do.

Get over yourself! Stop talking yourselves out of all of these things that could (gasp!)

BRING YOU JOY!

I'm going to try to get out of the way, want to try with me?

Our visitors

We've had a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses come by house this week... Merry Awkward Christmas to me. Well, we usually try and be kind but this morning we had two come by. This was second visit this week. It was Sam's turn so I heard him out there talking. Here is the conversation:

JW: "Hello, we've been talking to your neighbors about the suffering in the world. Do you believe there's suffering in the world?"

Sam: "Yes we do. But, my wife and I are believers so..."

JW: "Ok, well we want to show you one verse, Proverbs 2:22, 'The wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. ' Have a great day, here are two pamphlets."

Sam: "Oh wow."

JW: "We'll check back later."

Sam comes inside and brings me the pamphlets with this look on his face that I've seen before, as if he's been asked to write a book report. I am laughing (the kind of laughing so we don't cry) hysterically at this interaction. People, really?! That is the verse you're walking around to our neighbors with!? REALLY!? Please be warned, our dog will be waiting with a super soaker next time because Santa brought him some thumbs.

Merry Christmas Friends!

Hello friends, I hope you are having an amazing Christmas. This will be short and sweet since my hottie husband is waiting for me on the couch to watch Baby Mama.... yeah, that's happening. So here it is:

We are broken. God knew that only His Son could die on behalf of the Father. And only God as man could die as a sacrifice for man. How amazing is it that He came to fulfill in His body which we couldn't fulfill in ours! He came as the solution. As you finish today's Christmas craziness, join me in awe that God humbled Himself to come in our place. Merry Christmas!

Reconciliation

Last night I received an email from an old friend. We had grown apart over the years. However, her email was full of grace and authenticity that humbled me to the core. She was braver than I could ever hope to be in her honesty and her vulnerability. Reconciliation takes courage. But the reward is sweet.

I know it's a busy time of year, but look around, reconciliation is happening all over. Join in won't you?

Fear

Do not fear.

Of all the things in the world, why do we give so much power to fear? Take a minute to reflect on the opportunities that you've missed because you were scared. Imagine what your life would look like without fear. Imagine what it would feel like to truly live in God's freedom and feel

uninhibited.

I decided to make a personal attack on fear. I went bungee jumping with my dad and brother. I was scared. But, as a 17 year old hippie with bad hair counted to 3, I jumped over a massive river only to be caught by a pathetic excuse for a rubber-band. I screamed "SCREW YOU FEAR!" all the way down. It felt good.

What's keeping you from jumping?

"I'm doing what now?! And please, wash your hair boy."

"SCREW YOU FEAR!"

What I've been learning...

I have a heart of a fighter. I want to fight for you.

I want to fight for your mental health, your spiritual health, your emotional health and shoot, even your physical health. Now, I'm not saying I care about what J.Crew cardigan you are picking out or what inappropriately named NARS blush you got. But I am saying that it might not be a terrible idea to start posting the messages that I have for women. I want this to be encouraging and empowering.

I realize that half of my heart is resisting this blog and whispering "Your words don't matter!" But, I like arguing with myself, like when I convince myself that eating ice cream is good for my calcium intake or that my jeans are only tight because they went into the dryer.... 2 weeks ago. So, for those that care, I'll be praying for yall and will post whatever God brings me to tell you that day. I'm not promising wisdom, humor, or insight but I'm promising that I'll take time to listen and share what God lays on my heart to tell you. It may be through one liners or haikus but this is me, fighting for you.