Three Gifts Red

Today's Joy Dare (scroll down to the end of the 02.06.12 post to see the February Challenge): 3 Gifts Red.

When I saw that last night, I admit I wondered if I could complete the task sincerely. Sure, I could say my hair. It truly is a gift - the only physical feature I have that I can honestly say I've always liked in spite of all the teasing it earned me. But that seems superficial and lame. Really - three RED gifts? Can it be done?

I set out this morning, camera in hand, determined to find three new gifts to give thanks for - new meaning something I hadn't already counted. I prayed for God to open my eyes and this is what I found:

A Canadian flag. Yes, I'm proud to be Canadian, but more than that I'm thankful to live in such a beautiful country where I have so many privileges and so few worries.

Our quad. A red Polaris. It serves us functionally - add a blade to the front for faster and easier snow removal or strap heavy items to the back to move them, and FUNctionally - add the "Hillbilly wagon" behind for family trips to the river or hook the sled on the back for fun in the snow. It's also a great vehicle for a romantic and adventurous date for two!

*Curious about how the Hillbilly Wagon got its name? Think dilapidated old converted and patched up tent trailer + Beverley Hillbillies. The wagon earned its name the day we hooked it up behind the quad and perched Grandma - with a broken foot - in it on a lawn chair to go to the river.

My sweet man's Sears Craftsman toolbox. Yep, I'm thankful for this dirty old thing and the large wooden bench beside it. Why? Because it holds many of the tools he has used to make my visions for our home come true.

I was skeptical that I could do it, find three red gifts. To be honest I feel the same way about tomorrow, but I love a good challenge. And really, any challenge that has me on the lookout for blessings is one worth taking on - whether I find the three items the challenge asks for or three of my own.

2012 Joy Dare

In light of how she's inspired me, I've decided to join in (albeit a little late - hey, I can catch up) on Ann Voskamp's 2012 Joy Dare. The mission? To list 1000 gifts in a year (3/day). I also have a goal to take more pictures and have been contemplating the 365 photo challenge (taking a picture a day) for a couple years now. Since I LOVE efficiency, what better than to combine the two?


Today's Dare was to find three gifts, all outside. Here are mine:

Morning visitors (a herd of deer.), not to mention another beautiful sunrise.

Plenty of wood to keep our house warm. The mercury is going to dip tonight.

Squeals of delight.

 And an extra to help me catch up:

A flock of Common Redpolls (?) that passed through  Jan. 20, 2012.

Tomorrow's Dare: 3 gifts red. Join me, won't you?

God's Chisel

(God's Chisel video. http://skitguys.com/videos/item/gods-chisel)

This video about says it all, doesn't it?

My desire to become the person God wants me to be is a bold one. It's scary at times. It's hard to let go of those pieces of me that I am so attached to. Even posting something like this requires me to overstep the boundaries of my comfort zone - because there are few people with whom I openly discuss my faith. I worry about offending friends and family I know are not believers or whose beliefs I know differ from mine.

Which is crazy because pretty much everyone who knows me knows I am Christian.

My goal is and always has been to love everyone like Jesus loves them, like he loves me. To live my faith, not preach it, using action consistently and words only to answer questions. Just like the guy in the video, I am - and always will be - under construction. I strive for perfection in my tasks, but I am by no means under any illusion that I am perfect. 

I am guilty of caring too deeply what other people think of me. I look around more than I look up, and there's plenty of chiseling for God to do in me. But I know that I am not junk. Even though I am still a work in progress, I am an original masterpiece. I am wonderfully complex. I wonder, though, if you would ever know this if I were never bold enough to just say it:

So are you.

Can You Do Yoga With Rigor Mortis?

Rigor Mortis - Latin meaning "stiffness of death," according to Wikipedia. "One of the recognizable signs of death ... causing the limbs to become stiff and difficult to move or manipulate."

Yoga - for the purposes of this post, I am focusing solely on the physical strength and flexibility required.

Sometimes life feels like trying to do yoga with rigor mortis.

There's just one small catch. I'm not dead.

I can think of two specific life events that have been instrumental in my process of learning to accept change, but really, change is inevitable and dealing with it is a life-long process for all of us. Often one change sparks another - and it can snowball from there.

There are times when I eagerly anticipate change, when I am excited and ready to move in a new direction; there are times when I take an apathetic approach; and there are times when all I want to do is dig my heels in like a rebellious two-year-old and scream, "NO!"

Unfortunately, the latter is not conducive to living a happy, fulfilled life in which I grow. Unfortunately, I have felt that way a couple times recently.

I desperately want to grow. Because to stop growing, learning, changing, is to die. Physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. And I don't want to just live, I want to live FULLY.

Therefore, no matter how stiff I feel, I must bend... because there are some changes that will happen no matter what I think - and I refuse to let them be my breaking point.

But that also does not mean that I need to sprint toward every change heading my direction with open arms and a huge grin. It's ok for me to feel disappointed or frustrated or sad... for a little while. Change can feel a lot like loss that we need to grieve and that takes time - and that's ok, and depending on the severity of the change, the amount of time needed to accept it varies.

I did some research on flexibility today. One article said this:

"The most practical way to increase flexibility is to get stronger. It sounds strange but according to Pavel Tsatsouline, author of Relax Into Stretch, 'Typically a stronger muscle does not have to contract as hard as a weaker one to exert the same amount of force and it more willingly relaxes into a stretch.'"

Wow. Funny how something so literal can be taken to a deeper level of thought and still hold true.

The article goes on to say (basically) that the more you stretch, the easier it becomes to stretch further. Obviously. But there's a catch most of us are familiar with - stop doing it for a while and you seize up again. So since we can't always control the frequency with which we are presented with change, how do we remain limber so it won't be so difficult next time?

Strengthen ourselves. To relax more willingly.

For me, that means spending time reading my Bible, hanging out with people who know me and will challenge me when I start talking crazy, and ignoring the "stinkin' thinkin'" that (let's be honest) I'm often challenged by. I can be on the lookout for changes that are sneaking up on me and start assessing them and planning my attack when I see them approaching. I can talk it out with other people who are involved or whom I trust. I can look for the positive aspects of the new, rather than focusing on the things I'll miss of the old. If it affects other people, I can tell them as soon as I know so we can discuss our plan of attack together and they too can have time to prepare.

And then I can take action... which means choosing a direction and bending in it. This may even involve moving out of this tiny little box I like to call my comfort zone.

Can you do yoga with rigor mortis? Not literally. But fortunately even the most rigid of us can bend at least a little before we break.