A Recap of My Word of 2015

Digital sketch by my friend Shellon

As we come to the end of 2015 I think of my word for that year WILL. I resigned in myself the resolve to sustain an iron will in the things that I would do. Did I succeed? Well, at the very least not completely. Though, I suspect that may be coloured by my constant desire to do better than I ever do or have done.

I also resolved to do. Get it done. Make it happen. Sure enough the goals I set for the year, all the personal ones too, I bolted into and came out the other side a changed woman.

Take for instance reading my bible more, I completed numerous reading plans this year, most notably SRT Women in the Word study which, honestly changed me. I came to know the women of the bible through it in a very real, non fairytale like way.

My resolves to get to praying more and to keep a monthly prayer journal were all successfully done and did a lot to help me to grow in my Christianity and as a person.

Growing stronger in my Christianity has always been on my bucket list and I'm sure it will continue to be. I can absolutely say that I have made huge strides in this direction this year and I feel fantastic about it.

My 12 book a year reading challenge I far exceeded after attempting it almost every year and always coming up short. I went from two books a year, to eleven books a year and then finally in 2015 over seventeen books in a year!

I know I grew a lot due to that process too. With every book I devoured I learned more about myself, the world I live in, the world I don't live in and the people who live in them both.

Likewise, my project 52 challenge was completed for the first time at long last!! Through it I learned to be more selective in what I take a picture of, how I take a picture of it and what are the things that matter to me really deep down after a month has pasted when I feel like nothing has happened or like I have accomplished nothing. Project 52 helped me to narrow things down in my head and to see that in the grand scheme of things, little can add up to a lot even in pictures.

I guess it would be a flat out lie for me to say picking a word of the year did not work wouldn't it? Given the evidence at hand and all. I already know what my word of 2016 is for where I have failed carrying out full the noun portion of this years word, for oh how I stumbled in keeping motivated, I step boldly into it's fulfilment in 2016.

I'll tell you all about that in another blog post. For catch up on previous posts on my word of 2015 click here for my choosing process and options and for more on my motivations behind the word click here.


What's your word of 2016? Share with me in the comments below, oh I'm dying to know!

Peace. Love. Plan.

4 Things I Learned from my Faith in 2015

You reflect what you spend time doing.
I spent time in scripture and in prayer like crazy this year and I fed that love for it. The only way to grow in something is to keep on feeding it. The wolf that wins is the one you feed right?

There is an extreme privilege in abiding in service. 
Service is not about being the top dog, it is about achieving a sense of humility that allows you to realise that you are an equally important part of an extraordinary whole. Abiding in service is not a chance to be self prompted or boastful but is an opportunity to feel blessed by the position you hold in life. A position wear you are free, loved and safe. It is an opportunity to share that possibility with others and help them to feel the same. It is a chance to change lives just by being who you are, isn't that a true triumph in such a desperately unfair world?  

I have a passion for ministry, diverse and loving ministry.
As seen in my love for teaching and the many roles I occupy in my life.  I delved a little deeper into service this year. It was a long time coming, I knew it but I hadn't yet realised in what way I could serve most effectively and where. In 2015, as I explored aspects of my spiritual life, how I can use my personality and talents also became clear to me. Now I'm revving to make things happen and I couldn't be more excited to have a hand bettering lives and being a source of God's all encompassing love to my fellow living things.

There is strength in numbers.
This year I sought out community a lot more than I used to and I learned that surrounding myself with like-minded individuals not only strengthened me in times of pain but it also fed my own growth. When I dwelt in a space that I made sacred for myself, simply by declaring it so, I gave my spirit a chance to rest even in the midst of busyness, pain, dissatisfaction, confusion, anger and abandonment.



It's been a wild spiritual journey for me in 2015 and no doubt next year will come with a brand new set of lessons and it's own enforcements of these...either way, it'll be an adventure!

Peace. Love. Believe.

MERRY CHRISTMAS LOVELY!!!

Merry Christmas Lovies!

I swear I spent all of last week cleaning my room and in TWO DAYS everything went south. Still, in the midst of it all the smiles and laughter of my loved ones keeps me rooted in my reason for the season.

Isn't it all about good winning in the end?

Peace. Love Merry Christmas!!!

Dear Mr. Santa Clause Sir

Salutations and warm nights!

By my estimation I've been rather good this 2015; I didn't let the monster get my goose, I was goal oriented and I read my bible lots. Therefore it is with a spotless heart I am writing you this letter.

Please may I have all the illnesses raging my loved one to disappear, you know the ones. Please may I have my loved ones live long healthy happy lives. Please may I have the strong will to not drop out of school due to sheer frustration. Please may I have a bottle or twenty of my favourite wine, I promise not to drink them all at once.

Also, please keep the wonders of the world standing and unbombed so that I might still see them when I can afford to travel.

p.s. I've also cc this letter to God, not that I don't believe in you are anything but you know...just in case.

Thanks a lot

A very good lady.
 

Project 52 - December

01. | I have dreams of a grand little tree someday. This is not that year.

02.| I finally had a chance to make some home visits! This lady has been working hard getting ready for craft fairs and selling her beautiful creations during an artists busiest time of the year. I was able to help.

03.| I love seeing Christmas tress and décor everywhere guys! So Much!

04.| I HAVEN'T SEEN HER ALL YEAR I DON'T THINK. I CANT WAIT TO SQUISH HER TOMORROW :D

---

It's been a crazy December. It's been a tiring year...I am tired right now as I type this but I have so so so much to be grateful for that I cant help but praise God in the midst of struggle. As I look back though, over this year via my entire project 52 I'm feeling so stirred up!

While it's happening it never feels like it's worth the while. It feels like time is crawling and nothing worth remembering is happening. Turns out, that's a lie, every year, every month every change in the seasons is but another turn of the pottery while, another shaping by the potters hands...

More on the year in my end of year reflection.

Peace. Love. Gratitude.

for my ENTIRE project 52 2015 CLICK HERE!

Adulting Christmas

When I was a child Christmas did not mean much to me. So much has changed since then. It has never meant Santa Clause, gifts under the tree, mistletoe or white Christmases. It meant lounging on a holiday and being little moved by the goings-on

Time has morphed that into something very special in my adult life.

It now means sending Christmas cards, special shopping dates with people I haven't seen all year, culturally appreciation by way of seasonal food, spending time with mumzie and even a special outfit for a special house visit.

I'm even doing some decorating this year, minimal though that might be.

Though I've yet to find the perfect tree having a tree and decorations now mean something I have created in a moment in time. It means living in an extremely potent scene of appreciation for the love I have for life and the people in my life.

It is a tangible reminder that I am well and employed and can now cheer my friends on with things that they love and secrets we have shared through out the year via presents!

I am a Christian and for me, though my denomination does not celebrate (it may shock you to know that many denominations of Christianity do not) I do personally. I am reminded around this time of year even more than usual that I should be thanking God for His gift of salvation every day. I often do but never enough as I'd like to and so during Christmas season, when I hear Christmas carols everywhere and see the nativity scene all over town my heart squeezes a little tightly a little more often in gratitude.

Christmas as an adult is very different to Christmas as a child.

Time is no longer spent wishing after the gifts on television but rejoicing in the gift giving process and being extremely thankful that I am of the economical means to give gifts, small as they might be. It means treasuring the parts of my culture that are threatened by extinction and holding them close to my chest and my memory. It means understanding the meaning behind symbolism and accepting that I support which one I choose by choice.

It means an expression of self, my money, my choices, my beliefs my culture. My friends, their gift of love, joy, laughter and attention. It also means my saviour. Though everything always means my savour in my heart.

 What is Christmas like for you as an adult?

Peace. Love. Celebrate the good.

Musing :: Mind : When You Have A Long Transition

Lately I've been having some inconsistencies of emotion; basically I don't know how I feel about it.  I've been devouring good literature and letting it remind me of a part of myself I have long neglected; the unique author perspective that is not the usual or expected norm of today.

Lately, I've been stroking that part of my soul that is not like everyone elses and letting myself be reminded that every good part of this whole needs to be nurtured to thrive. I cannot just starve the bad wolf, I must feed the good wolf. A wolf is savage and territorial and must be fed or it may very well bring havoc in search of food...

Lately I have been putting on profession over creativity and feeling very stuffy in my skin. It is heavy this business of the day to day.

Lately I have been struggling to hold on to my perception of beauty in everyday. Reminding myself that existing in a state of transition is not only depressing or frustrating but reassuring because it means that if I am existing between two points there are two points. Transition means I came from some where and I am going somewhere.

Transition means that even if the corridor is dark and the light is dim....the light exists, Thank God.

Peace. Love. Light at the end of your tunnel.

My Christmas Wishlist 2015

From top left to right: ban.do notebook // She reads truth letters from Paul print // She is clothing leather snapback // She is clothing tote // blue purse // she reads truth saved by grace print // ban.do scarf // ban.do pencil pouch // ban.do passport holder.

I've also got Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre and Sense and Sensibility in the Penguin Clothbound Classics Hardcover Edition on my list though not pictured here. Maybe I'll get them for my self on my birthday I don't know.

Also on my list is another pretty notebook and a nice notepad that matches it from Erin Condren.

I'm playing with those ideas...it's very difficult for me to buy myself things to be honest. We shall see how it goes!

What pretty presents are you eyeing this Christmas season?

Peace. Love. Cheer.