Update on August Goals

And just like that, August is over! I have had a good and productive month and am grateful for all I was able to accomplish! Here are some updates on the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the month. 

1. Write a week of devotional readings.

Done! And done early! I probably love beating a deadline more than I should. But that little detail aside, I am grateful for the invitation to write for Light from the Word. I typically receive an invitation from them about once a year, but I've had to decline the last couple of opportunities, because we were at WillowBridge, and I didn't have time to write. It was a blessing to still be on their contact list, and I appreciated the things I learned as I wrote this time. As I think I said when I shared my goals for this month, devotional writing is a welcomed writing challenge. I have exactly 220-230 words for each day's work, and it's a good discipline for me to be that concise. 

2. Prepare for a women's retreat this fall.

Well underway! All of my sessions were already written, but they needed some updating, tweaking, condensing, and refreshing. I have done all of that and have begun practicing each session. The main thing left to do is make my picture/Scripture slides to accompany my talks. I will continue working on all of it until the weekend arrives, but the bulk of the work is done, and I am excited to spend time refreshing my own heart on this material! As tends to be the case when I speak at a retreat, I need the material as much as (maybe more than) the women I serve.

3. Take another stab at finding a workout plan that works for me.

I guess only time will tell if this ends up being a long-term fit, but I am enjoying it for now, anyway! I was scrolling through Instagram one day and found a suggested post from an account called Faithful Workouts. I checked them out and wondered how I had never heard of them before! In the dozens of searches I've done for free, faith-based workouts, they've never popped up. The creator is a woman who wants to see other women succeed in a healthy lifestyle. The website offers recipes, verses, inspirational thoughts, and a choice of daily workouts, all neatly arranged into a calendar! I'm able to choose each day's workout based on how much time I have, and so far, it's working well! I'm working out about 4-5 days a week, and I am happy with that!

4. Do some list-making with Ryan.

Our lists have been more conversational than on paper, but they have taken place, and I have loved the time we've spent together talking about them. As we settle in more at our church, we're finding opportunities presented to us for our involvement. We want to be involved as much as we can, but we also want to make sure our involvement is fitting and not just filling time because we can. We also did some dreaming for our future at large, trying to make sure that our decisions now are setting us up to be prepared for what's coming down the road. (Or at least what might come down the road!)

5. Continue decorating at Love INC.

My sister brought me a few things for the office from Kansas, and I was excited to take them in to see where they might fit best! I've started hanging some of them up, and others I'm hanging onto until I figure out how I want to reconfigure a couple of office spaces. But it's slowly looking more like home. It will be a regular work in progress, I know.

6. Pray some bold prayers.

I did this every day this month. At this point, I'm keeping my prayer-content sacred to my heart, but I did have several topics that I prayed about at length and boldly throughout the month. I am eager to see how God answers, even if He answers differently than I asked!

Other accomplishments this month included...

* I crossed off another item from my list of ten house-things to accomplish before the end of the year. We hung up our photo frames for our house painting collage! We have watercolor paintings of our Marion and Kokomo homes and commissioned our friend Amber to paint WillowBridge and our current home. She is already working on the WillowBridge painting. We asked her to wait a minute on our current house so we can get a better feel for what it should actually look like after we get some landscaping fixed. We went ahead and hung up the frames for the two paintings yet to come, but even though they're empty, I am so happy to have that wall filled! The foyers is making its way toward polished and complete! 

* I purchased a small handful of new items toward my updated wardrobe project. I told you about one of the dresses already and will have to tell you more about rest of it along the way. I also (as I told you yesterday) updated socks and other essentials, which has really helped the overall feel of wearing clothing. I continue to love this project. 

* I kept up with our scrapbooks and with my other side writing projects. My daily writing prompts have really taken off this month and have proven to be a great outlet for me. Creativity is flowing faster, and I know it's because of those!

* I started reading again! When we were at WillowBridge, I stopped reading, partly because we didn't have time for such a luxury, and partly because my brain was mush at the end of each day, and I couldn't comprehend enough to read. But I feel like I've finally come to a place where my heart and mind are healed enough to comprehend again, so I'm back on the reading bandwagon! I started with a book called RVing Across America, and I'm not quite halfway done with it. I try to do a little bit each day as a break from my work! It is certainly causing the travel bug to bite hard!

* My side of the family has a new family picture! We hadn't taken one in a few years, but we scheduled it when we all got together for the milestone celebrations. No one talked to anyone else about what they planned to wear, so I'm fairly amazed that we look so coordinated! I have it updated in our living room frame and think it looks lovely.