Maintaining Perspective in Life

To be truly honest, I often struggle with being an over-achiever and a bit of a perfectionist!  Because of this, I tend to worry about MANY things -- am I working hard enough to achieve my goals?  Do people like me?  Can I do better?  Have I done enough?  This quite often results in me going about my day worrying about things -- things that I may or may not be able to control.  I know this is a struggle in my life, and I wrestle with this daily.  But a few weeks ago I heard a story at church that has given me a new perspective that I am trying to live by.  The story goes like this:

A middle-class family in New York had a beautiful painting on their wall. It hung over their sofa for many many years, but one day it was knocked off the wall by the kids. It ended up behind the sofa and was kept there for many years... The painting was eventually replaced by a new wall hanging. After some time, the family decided to have the painting appraised to see what it was worth. It turned out it was an original Michaelangelo worth $300 million!!
                                                                                (told by Tim Day, the Meeting House)

 
Often in our lives we struggle with worry/anxiety, depression/sadness, anger/rage, or other emotions or struggles.  Perhaps we have family situations which are difficult, we have financial struggles, emotional battles, or have days where we feel like failures!  We can easily get ourselves buried under our situations or feelings, and we may feel like we want to fall!  But God has given us 'michaelangelos' in our lives!  We have families that love us, friends or co-workers who brighten our days, we live in the abundant nation of Canada, we have warm homes, clean water, more than enough food, and above all the God of this universe loves us unconditionally!  Enough that he came into this world and sacrificed everything to give us freedom and joy!

So, why do we overwhelm ourselves with our situations and emotions, and 'bury' ourselves with these things?  Instead, choose to live in the joy and freedom you've been given!  Cast aside the things that drag you down!  Today, take some time to look for God's 'michaelangelo' gifts in your life... 

Valentine's Craft

So, as I  said, my goal for February was to make some kind of Valentine's craft.  So after searching some craft blogs...and becoming slightly addicted with a few (some of which you can see on my blog list on the left)...this is what I decided to do.  The idea came from Someday Crafts:

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2010/12/joy-apothecary-jars.html

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2010/09/boo-apothecary-jars.html

I really liked the thought of using this kind of thing for the different holidays throughout the year and just changing the wording and candy.  So I began shopping for the jars.  I found some beautiful ones for $29.99 at Tag, but I wasn't sure Mark would approve of spending $90.00 on 'jars'!  So, I settled for these jars for $1.25 each at Dollarama!  I bought three.  So for $3.75, and a bit of cardstock, I made my own set. 

Not quite as beautiful as the ones from Someday Crafts but fun nonetheless.  I'm looking forward to making new labels for them and filling them with candy for the next holiday!  Lets just say I love the dollar store!!!

12 New Things...

So...several months ago I stumbled across this blog and it inspired me...
http://www.incourage.me/2010/08/12-things.html

The challenge was to pick one new thing to do or to learn every month for 1 year.  At the time I read the blog, I had recently finished up school and was ready to take on some new hobbies and make some time to do some of the things I love which had been put on hold for the time I was studying.  So I made my list of 12 New Things...

Here it is:
SEPTEMBER 2010 -- take a nap...because I can!
OCTOBER 2010 -- make apple crisps for the freezer
NOVERMBER 2010 -- pack, paint, move to our new home
DECEMBER 2010 -- Hold 1st annual Christmas baking exchange
JANUARY 2011 -- make cards and send to friends/family who may need it
FEBRUARY 2011 -- Make a Valentine's craft
MARCH 2011 -- Have a girls party with hot tub, wine, toenail painting
APRIL 2011 --  Use a Michaels coupon to do something creative
MAY 2011 -- take a hike with Mark and take some photos of creation
JUNE 2011 -- plant flower gardens, and attempt a small vegetable garden
JULY 2011 -- take a special holiday with Mark
AUGUST 2011-- prepare fruits and vegetables for freezing over the winter months

So far I've been on task and I've enjoyed doing some domesticated and creative things.  My apple crisps turned out to be delicious, our new home is painted, decorated and feeling more homey by the day, and the baking exchange in December turned out to be a blast!

So, what about you, are there some new things you just haven't gotten around to doing?  Are there goals you want to make but never seem to get them done?  Perhaps try setting out to do one thing per month!  Setting out small monthly goals or even bi-monthly goals may make things more achievable.  For me, I was just trying to get back to doing some of the things I had always wanted to do while in school, but never seemed to have the time...and I can tell you, I'm thoroughly enjoying the freedom of graduated life!  Exploring new hobbies and re-acquainting myself with my creative side!

So who's up for a girls party in March??

A blog...

So, I decided to start a blog -- to share some of the thoughts of my heart and some of the things I love!  No one needs to read it, its mostly for me to track my thoughts and to have a place where I can be a bit creative.  Here it goes...