1. Sunday night dinner and show-and-tell with the artists group. I showed off my very first woven rug. Yes, this one:
These women have encouraged me and prayed with me for the past year and a half as we have studied inspirational artist books together. Every time we meet I come away filled with thankfulness for such wonderful and creative friends. And Sunday night we shared our time with our spouses.
2. Wednesday field trip to Ventura with one of the artists. Sold books. Traded books for store credit. Bought a book. Quick lunch. Great conversation.
3. This same friend helped me work through a decision I had to make, reminding me of our "Monk Manifesto" to 'discern my use of energy and things spent on frivolous or dead works, letting go of what does not fit into my life of stewardship.' If an activity, even a good one, is sucking energy and time from what rightfully fits into my life, then I need to have courage to remove it. That's often easier said than done, right? My friend gave me permission to be courageous.
4. "Clutter is the great destroyer of peace." I noticed this statement in an email from Flylady and was struck by its simple truth. Lately, I've been doing a big declutter around here. We're getting ready to do some major house remodel/overhauls and need to pack up our stuff. So when I read that sentence, I immediately posted it on facebook, and evidently by the number of 'likes' and 'comments' it generated it has resonated with a lot of people.
5. Often September in Southern California is just HOT. Usually there are no 'signs of autumn'. But this week our mornings have been foggy. Yes, foggy. We live about 13 miles inland from the ocean and the early morning coastal fog has crept in and kept the temperatures down a bit. I'm not a big fan of grey weather, but in September it's a welcome respite.
Can you believe it? I didn't take a single photo with my camera this week, so here is a picture from the summer-- a simple barn in a field on the Natchez Trace Parkway. So green and so different from where I live.
Wherever you live this week, this month, I hope you are finding joy, beauty, and blessing in your life.
12 comments:
Lovely blessings to be thankful for.
Hugs,
Meredith
I found. Joy today in the faces of 18 kindergartners and the 8 of them with special needs that I will be teaching this years today was the first day! Your list of faves is wonderful! I love that woven rug and now special to have a friend who encourages good decisions!
Oh, I adore barns! I especially love the white against the green.
Love the quote and I'm in total agreement. Clutter DOES destroy peace, and yet it is so easy to creep in without me noticing. I'm talking mental clutter as well as material.
Someimes things do need to be cut out, even good things. Kudos to you on being courageous and doing some cutting back.
Ventura - I was in Santa Clarita three years ago this month, and we drove out to Ventura twice. What a beautiful place!!!
Your rug turned out so nicely!
It's hard sometimes to decide what needs to go in the schedule to make room for other things, especially when they all seem to have their purposes.
Glad you had a respite from the hot weather!
Gotta love #2. Anything with involving books, friends and lunch makes the faves list in my world.
#3 was really convicting to me right now as I gear up for a very busy few months. I've almost been gritting my teeth in anticipation of all the work and involvement coming my way. Thanks for sharing that. I'll have to prayerfully consider those words in light of what to do.
I need to get to more decluttering. The older I get the more clutter is bothering me.
Oh and p.s. I posted some more pics of that cliff hike so that you can see the trail better. :)
I thought about decluttering projects this week but I'm glad I didn't get rid of everything I'd meant to! We had an unexpected house guest who was in need of several things that would've been decluttered. Sometimes procrastination works ;-)
No, I can't believe you got fog! In September! Not fair!!!
Great post Willow. I think a de-clutter is definitely the order of the day. Love your woven rug! Ros
Oh, I haven't thought about FlyLady in so many years! But I still have my morning routine thanks to her so things get done around here! I gave up Facebook for many reasons but the main one is that it is a major time sucker! Have you read A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live by Emily P. Freeman? Candace Cameron Bure recommended it and it's a great book for Christian artists. Well, good luck on your decluttering and remodeling! And have a great week!
Your Monk's Manifesto has me thinking, Linda. There are so many things I want to do...more than I can do, and listening to God's direction for what is His heart's desire for me is challenging.
I appreciate your encouraging good example, Linda. Thanks!
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