31 Days of Practice {October 2012}

During the month of October, I'll be joining a host of other bloggers who will be joining The Nester for her annual 31 Days...event.  The minute I read about it, I was compelled to join in, but for the life of me I couldn't come up with a topic.  I asked biggest fan club and they each had their own ideas...but none of them clicked.

Then I remembered something Jon Acuff said last weekend.  He said we need a "Practice Space."  Ahhh suddenly a light bulb went off, and I had my topic.

I started this blog back in 2008 and it was primarily a way to keep long distance family up to date with the happenings in our family. Epic Fail.

Then I began down the household track...meal planning, recipes, coupons, you name it. Epic Fail #2.  

And the story goes on. and on. and on.  Until last winter.

Last winter I distinctly heard the LORD say to me that I needed to start writing. And I did. For awhile. Then the pressure of comments (or lack there of) and stats, etc overwhelmed me and I slacked off.

That cycle repeated itself in the spring and again this summer.

Until I went to the Quitter Conference recently, and the speakers talked about dreams and how our dreams could and should have an effect outside of us. They talked about dreams offering hope.  

They talked about having a practice space, where we could be free to fail, and eventually find our awesome-ness.

That conference was only a week ago.  And here is this 31 days event, where I am challenged to write - for 31 days. Straight.

I'm excited. I'm apprehensive. I don't have a long list of topics. I'm praying the LORD reveals them as we go along. Because really, that's my biggest source of inspiration - daily life, family, The crazy we call life.

So I hope you will join me this month, and if you are also participating, please leave me a link in the comments, so that I can see what you will be writing about. for. 31. days. straight.

♥Lori
Day 1 - ABC's of Me
Day 2 - Battle for TIME
Day 3 -Welcome
Day 4 - Homecoming 2012
Day 5 - Savor 7 Saturday
Day 6 - The Road
Day 7 - The D Word {Discipline}
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Grasp {Five Minute Friday}

Grasp {to take or seize eagerly, to lay hold of with the mind : comprehend}

What a wonder that God would give Lisa-Jo that word for this week's Five Minute Friday.

Not really.
My reader feed has been loaded with various posts on writing and dreaming all week.  Things I grasp to understand these days.

After the blessing of last weekend's Quitter Conference, I grasp to understand what I'm supposed to do, and how.  Being a type-A, over-achiever, if I don't understand it and can't make it work, I want to bail.  Give up. Walk away.
But not this time.
I have to figure this one out.
I have to understand what God is trying to do...in me.

I still get stuck on little things like comments, re-tweets, and responses.  But does all that really matter, or is this just my "practice space"? 

That place where I'm able to find myself and get comfortable with who I am...in my writing, in the blogosphere, in my own skin really.

I've been here a long time.
I've re-invented this little blog of mine several times, never really able to find its true self, its true space.

But maybe it's me.
Maybe its me who needs to move and change...

...to grasp...what God is doing...
♥Lori

Linked with Lisa Jo and Five Minute Friday

What if...

We traveled to the Nashville, TN area this past weekend to attend the Quitter Conference with Jon Acuff and a host of other fabulous speakers.  It was a conference for dreamers, by dreamers.
 
Now, I'm not a dreamer, at least I wasn't a dreamer.  As a child or teen, I never dreamed of what I would do one day, or who I would marry.  Life just kind of happened.  
 
Needless to say, I wasn't sure why we were there at the Quitter conference, until I heard this one word...IF.  

Matt Chambers was talking about finding balance and eliminating excuses.  And when he talked for just a moment about the word IF drowning out our dreams, I literally caught my breath.  

I never thought about it before, 

but the word IF leads to either 

HOPE or EXCUSE.

Think about it...

"I'd love to work on that missions project, IF ONLY I had more money."
"I'd love to help tutor children IF ONLY I had more time."

That IF leads to excuses.

Now think about this...

"It's only an hour of my time, but WHAT IF God could use it to ___________?
"It's only a few dollars, but WHAT IF I used it to ___________?

"WHAT IF..." brings HOPE!

It's my new favorite phrase. It holds so much promise!!

I am only a beginner dreamer, but the fire has been lit, and I see so much promise.  Thank you Jon Acuff & Friends!

This is just one of the many "take-aways" from a loaded weekend~

Happy Wednesday!!
♥Lori

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