So much to share

Where to begin?

I am finding that life is too short to be this busy and stressed out so I knew that changes needed to be made.  The first thing that I did was temporarily shut down my Etsy shop.  I am moving in a new direction with my crochet items and I need time to revamp and organize.  I also need time to finish up the orders that I currently have and just so everyone knows—I am no longer taking personal orders.

Secondly I quit my job as the crochet instructor at Michaels.  It was just becoming too much, with having to drum up new students and photocopy zillions of handouts and having to reschedule classes.  I have to admit that when I finally made the decision to quit a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.  And I was able to cross off about 15 things off my to do list.  That felt really good!  And then I took white out and erased all the classes off my calendar and that felt good too!  I thought that I would be really upset but it is totally okay!

Now I am focusing on my husband's business.  I am the “office manager” and to be honest I wasn’t doing a very good job.  Since it is his income that keeps are family warm, clothed, fed and a roof over our heads, I knew I needed to give that “job” more attention than I normally do.

As with my crocheting, I am not going to give much away because I want to wait until I open my shop for the big announcement but I thought I would show you a few of things I have made in the last little while.

One thing I can tell you is that I have changed the name of my crochet shop to Living Skies Crochet!

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This is a design that I did myself!

A huge slouchy hat!

Another slouchy hat

I have totally loved making rings!

I made a few cowls as Christmas time.

My new earrings have been a hit as well!

Let’s be honest.

It is time for a reality check.  I do not need to be this busy.  God did not command—”Thou shalt be busy!”  I have been finding my head spinning so fast I sometimes don’t know which direction to go.  So I am putting a plan into place.  I am going to make the time to sit down and make two lists.  The first list will be things that I enjoy doing.

The second list will be all the things that I have signed up for or agreed to do.  Then I will sit down and have a chat with God and start to remove things from the second list that do not match up with the first list.  This is going to be difficult, and I am probably going tick a few people off.  But I learned years ago that this is my life and I have to make the choices for my life’s direction.

Also, whenever I spend time writing and praying about things God’s plan and purpose always becomes clearer.  So say a prayer for me as I go through this time, that I will have wisdom, discernment and the strength to do whatever He wants me to.

Just what I needed!

I came across this book at the library the other day.  To be honest I picked it up because the cover caught my attention.  Then the title- “Confessions of a prayer wimp.”  Prayer is always an area that I need help in, I thought that Mary Pierce and I would get along nicely through this book.

I was so right!  This book has been such an encouragement to me and I am only on Chapter Six.  I am trying to read a chapter each morning and then spend time journaling the points to ponder at the end of each chapter.  This morning my time in my special chair lasted one hour!  I started with journaling and wrote out my prayers and then read the chapter and then journaled the questions.  What a great way to start my day.  I couldn’t believe how fast the hour went by.

I have been making a lot of changes in my life lately.  Some of which have been really difficult but I am getting there.  My busyness and choices over the past few years have really taken their toll out on my health so it is time for me to step up and be a grown up and make some choices for myself.  This book came along at just the right time for me.  Maybe it is something you need as well.  Check it out for yourself.  I think I am going to purchase it for myself and take this copy back to the library so someone else can enjoy it.  This book has a lot of things that I believe I will need constant reminders of.

Craziness

Life sometimes just feels so full. Sometimes too full. I am wondering how it got that way. Since having health problems for almost a year now, I quit my job in the spring and I still feel like I am running around like a crazy person. I quit so that I could slow life down. But at the end of the day I continue to ask myself, "What did I accomplish today?" And sometimes I can't think of anything but yet my day felt so full.

Why do I choose to do this to myself each day? I know I need to slow down. I started physio today and yikes am I sore right now. I felt really good this morning when I came home but right now I feel really tight and sore, and well, like a truck hit me. Physiotherapists really know how to hurt a person. :) But I know that I will continue to get better from this. That all of this pain will help me in the long run.

Kinda sounds like how God works in us a lot of the time doesn't it? Well, it is how he works in me most of the time. You know the character building exercises that He puts in our lives, so that we can continue to grow to me more like Him? It really sucks when you are in those places in your life, but then in the end when you can see what you were learning and how it helped you. In a weird and yet wonderful way it all seems worth it in the end.

I guess that is what physio is going to do for me. I am not going to feel like a 90 year old woman anymore. I will be able to run and play with my girls again. I wish I wasn't in this place right now but I know that I am taking the right steps on the right path to get to where I need to be. I just have to figure out how to slow down this ride of life that seems like it is spinning out of control. I know I need to cut somethings out of my life, but where do you cut? Who do you cut?

I was talking to my husband about having to cut somethings. And he asks me, that if I decided to leave something, who is going to loose out from having me involved? It is interesting to look at things from the larger perspective. I start cutting things that I wouldn't mind losing, but what effect is that going to have on other people? There is more to life than ourselves. Even though that is what the media likes to teach us - 'Life is all about me!" Well, someone else is always going to be affected by every decision that we make. Man! I thought I had difficult decisions to make before, but now it got even worse!

So now my brain hurts along with my back. So I am going to bed, and hopefully when I wake up tomorrow I will try to take my day bit by bit and enjoy the day with my daughter and not worry about the next thing on my to-do list that I feel I need to cross off. Hey, I bought a new purse today! Life is good!