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| {Vintage Media Ads} |
I've temporarily skipped Day 13: Declutter Books and Media, which I'll probably get to tomorrow. Instead, I had a media fast (leading to an awesome spiritual experience I'll share below) and even fixed something.
{Day 14: MEDIA FAST}
I cheated a tiny bit. I did my media fast from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Which could be considered cheating, because I generally media fast every week during this time. But, I paid special attention to avoid the computer altogether (I'll often end up doing something online during my weekly Sabbath media fasts), and I only used my phone as a phone during this time (instead of browsing Pinterest or checking in on Facebook).
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| {TGIF} |
Amazing the results of such a simple task. I got to sunset Friday and was feeling overwhelmed. You'd think staying home all week would take away that weekly TGIF feeling. But, for some reason, staying home just solidifies an almost anti-TGIF feeling. You see, when I worked out of the home, I got to the end of the week feeling so relieved and grateful that I had 48 hours to relax and avoid work. As a stay-at-home-mom, I get to the end of a workweek and realize that I don't get a break, and the weekend is in fact an extension of my already busy and full week.
And that's just how I was feeling as I went into this media fast. It's tempting to log in to Pinterest and just let my mind numb over with pretty pictures of pretty spaces and inspirational DIY projects that I most likely won't actually get around to doing. But I resisted the temptation and picked up a book, journal and pen instead. A sort of relaxing that I thoroughly enjoy but don't get much of with the other quick-fix relaxation I do (i.e., Pinterest). I am so glad I did!
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| {slow down} |
I started this devotional time (because that's usually what my quiet time without media turns to) with some specific questions I had about my purposes for writing. I immediately was pointed to Ephesians 1:9:
"[God has] made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself."
Awesome! God's already made known to me the mystery of His will for me! Great! Then, what is it and how do I know it?
The answer showed up in Philippians 4:6-7--God's peace guards my soul whenever I face the unknown and I feel calm knowing God has me in His sight. It's okay that I don't always know what I'm doing--because He does.
He didn't leave me hanging. He led me to the direction for my writing that I was looking for. A selection of reading from a book I'm reading, Grace for the Good Girl:
We breathe in air and breathe out worship. We receive love and extend worship. We embrace children, offering worship. We comfort, we laugh, we mourn, we dance, we read, we dream, we exist--all worship. We pay the bills,we run on the treadmill, we enjoy a good movie, we make dinner, we welcome friends with open arms--worship, all worship. We send money and offer prayer and sit with a lonely neighbor in Jesus' name. We wait for love, we long for home, we pour out our hearts and hopes and fears and longing; we create with words and photos and colors and food, all beautiful acts of worship. {p. 155, Emily Freeman}
This super hit home for me. This is the very concept behind my intent for this blog, and even for a book I've felt called to write. Epic Christianity--daily living for Christ. And I love this new realization of how it's all worship!
And with that, I worship Christ while I fix one thing :)
{Day 15: FIX ONE THING IN YOUR HOME YOURSELF}
I was tempted to claim our apartment is in good working order, and write this task off the list. Then I got honest with myself, and realized there's plenty that needs fixed that we just become accustomed to being broken. Take for instance, the unusual draft we've been feeling in our living room. It didn't seem right and it was just plain cold. We've spent a couple days writing it off to poorly sealed windows. Then, Daniel did something amazing. He opened the window and discovered it had been locked and then closed causing it to remain slightly open. He relocked it after it had been properly closed and, voila, drafty apartment is fixed :)
We also got the ball rolling to fix a few other things in the apartment. With a trip to the hardware store, we picked up {1} hooks to add to our coatrack so Brylee can hang up her own coat, {2} a possible solution for the gate on Ian's crib so that (hopefully) he can start sleeping in their rather than in our room (!), and {3} confirmation that the hardware from a handed-down chest of drawers is an unusual size and difficult to replace--still seeking solutions on that one.
We've moved forward on repairs, and these little quarks in our apartment will soon no longer be around to ignore :)
{It's your turn...}
Try taking a media fast, then share how it goes! And what about the repairs for your home? Any quick fixes you're able to do yourself?
