Little words, Big meaning

Happy (almost) New Year, friends!

We are busy planning for an awesome night out on the to... oh wait, nope. We have kids. I forgot. We will be in our jammies by 8:00 and might make it to sip sparkling cider when the ball drops. Might.

I wanted to share a fun little something I've been working on for my girl's rooms. I'll have a blog tutorial coming up in the next few weeks but I figured I should probably actually finish the project before I post about it. So here we are in the idea phase.

Reese is two and rapidly learning all kind of new words, phrases, and meanings. It's pretty scary having a little person follow you around and mimic you all. day. long. What if I say something I don't want her to say?

Scratch that.

I'm for SURE going to say stuff I don't want her to say. So for the sake of teaching the both of us to be careful with our words, we are skipping past the generic "be nice" and going straight for more of the meat and potatoes of words.

But really what's the point of knowing words if she doesn't know the meaning? So we're going to do both.

It should be pretty easy for her to remember these words since they'll be hanging in her room (pictures and tutorial pronto. promise).

So here's the list including a little description of how I'll be trying to communicate the meaning:

be kind - kind means i love you
be authentic - authentic means to just be YOU
be generous - generous means to take what you have and give it away
be respectful - respectful means to be kind to yourself AND to others
be confident - confident means to love who GOD made you to be
be sensitive - sensitive means to see a friend and care about them

The list will grow but we're going to start here. The whole goal this year is to be intentional in conversation with Reese and Rowe. To invest in their little selves so they can begin to understand the value of putting others first. We will look for opportunities to use these words and talk about their meaning as much as possible.

So here's to a new year and a new opportunity to be careful little mouths what you say.

Here's to learning and re-learning the weight of our words and choosing to be kind, authentic, generous, respectful, confident, and sensitive.

Do More of What You Love

I felt kind of selfish when I first wrote this one down on my list.

But the more I think on it, the more I am convinced that this is one of the most important things I can do to make this year different than any year prior. 

I've spent a lot of time doing what I think I should love. Doing what I think I'm good at. Doing what I've done in the past. Doing what others expect of me. But what about the things that make me come alive? What about the things that I haven't even discovered I'm good at because I've been to afraid to attempt them? What about the big dreams that I pushed aside because I'm too... (fill in the blank). 

I want to use this time I've been given to find out what I love. Then do more of that.

I know there are things I do because they need to be done. Those things will still be done. Duh.

But this is the year to break out of the mold and try new things, try old things again, and try not to squander any of the gifts God placed in me to fulfill HIS purpose.

To do more of what I love, I'll need to...

coffee with friends more

sing more

decorate and design more

thrift more

run more

laugh more

write more

encourage others more

do house projects more

memorize scripture more

rest more

date my man more

talk to my kids more

With only so much time in a day, I'll need to also make a list of what things I need to do less of. That one might hurt a bit more. But really, my more list looks like so much fun, I don't think I'll mind getting rid of whatever I need to in order to make the good stuff happen.

What do you want more of this upcoming year?

Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions.

I hate them.

People start talking about them and I start sweating. Making a resolution means possibly breaking a resolution, and for someone who hates failure, this is no fun.

This year I've decided to do something a little different. Rather than make the typical list of "goals" I want to accomplish in the next 365 days, I've been taking time to reflect on this past year and figure out how I want to use what I've learned to make the next year better. Better for me, Better for my family, Better for you, maybe? Probably not but we'll go with it.

So I'm terming the next few days my time to Reflect and Redirect.

Reflect on the past year and see what paths need to be redirected. Here's the list I've come up with so far.....

Do more of what you love

Stay in your lane

Don't compare

Be authentic

Love lavishly

Give generously

Choose JOY

Be silly with the girls

Get in the word daily

Send hand-written notes

Run. Walk. Repeat.

Eat real food.

Over the next few days, I'm going to be sharing my plan for how to actually DO these things in my day to day.

I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to share how you plan to make your 2015 look different than 2014. OR maybe how you're so awesome that you're just gonna keep doing what you're doing.

Happy (almost) New Year, friends!