Back to it....again.

As the old saying goes, "If at first, you don't succeed, try and try again!".  Think about it.  Success is only reached by stepping on a bunch of failures, or tries, right?  Have I heard that somewhere before?  I think so, but I can't remember where.  If you know, tell me - I'd want to give credit where credit is due.

I started off the year, intending to blog a picture of the day every day.  I haven't hit it every day.  I have blogged more often, though, which was my purpose in taking this on in the first place. 

Here I am, after taking a week off (or more) and I'm ready to tackle it once again.  I think my main obstacle is this:  I have too many things on my plate.  It's a spinning plate, stuck up on one of those sticks and I'm having trouble keeping it spinning AND making sure everything on it stays in tact.  Whew! Do you ever feel like that?  Yes, I'll bet you do. 

Everything on my plate is a worthy endeavor and is truly something I want to accomplish.  I can do it.  I have examined it and don't think I have too much,  but I do need to organize and prioritize in order to get everything done without getting too overwhelmed.  When I get overwhelmed, I tend to freeze.  The only way to get things done, is to keep moving, so this doesn't work very well.  It's something I'm working on changing.  How am I changing it, you may ask?  I'll show you:

This is my picture of the day.  As I was working at the office, I came across this sign, which is part of our kick off meeting for our marathon training program.  I don't know what it was doing in the office and not in the storage room.  It was the message I needed.  I took it and placed it in the window of my office so that this is the view from my desk.  I also set the picture as my wallpaper on my phone.  How many times a day and for how long will I see this message?  Hopefully, enough and until! 

There is much to be done, so I shall do it!

What's on your list?  How are you going to accomplish it?  You can do it - whatever it is!

Examine your own plate.
Decide what is important enough to keep.
Set the other aside - either by delegating it to someone else or getting rid of it altogether.
Focus on a realistic timeline to get it done.
Write it down - all of it - your goals, steps to getting there, timeline.
Record your progress each day so that you can see how you are spending your time.
Keep moving towards that goal(s), regardless of any setbacks you may have (and you will).
When you reach your goal - celebrate!

And don't forget...remove "can't".

A Mothers Day Wonder

 What a Mothers Day it has been!  It started out well, went a little crazy, and got another kind of crazy!  The first crazy began because it was Sunday morning with all three girls at home and everyone trying to get out the door ON TIME to go to church.  We got through that, and emerged virtually unscathed (for the most part).  We even arrived on time!

When we came home, Mark noticed two baby birds on the ground beneath the tree in our front yard.  They were tiny and are pictured to the left.  We picked them up, did some research, put out some SOS messages via Facebook and waited.  We were headed to a family party, so we took them with us.  After a few hours and not much luck getting anyone to adopt these birds, which we had determined are doves, Mark decided to take matters into his own hands.  Ok, in his case, hand.  He left us at the party and went home to take care of the birds.

He had read that the best thing to do was to make a nest out of a basket, hang it in the tree and hope that the parents return.  That is exactly what he did - see the picture to the right.
Pretty cool, right?

Since I had been promised a trip to see The Avengers, we left to go see it and hoped for the best.  We just returned a little while ago and lo and behold, it looks as if the mama has returned and is taking care of her babies!  We could see her tail feather sticking out over the edge of the basket.  I hope we are not just seeing things and there really is a happy little bird home up there.

And here are my little chicks, posing beside The Avengers - they've all picked out their favorite.  Little did we know that when we got home, we'd all feel a little bit like superheroes ourselves...

Above all else

I haven't posted a picture in a few days.  I'm not sure why because there is always something to snap.  Motivation has been lacking, I guess.   Motivation is back today.  It returned in the form of a quote from a song.  I don't even know what song it is or who sings it.  When I find out, I'll post.

Yesterday morning, as I was fixing breakfast for Caroline, this song was playing on the radio.  A line in it caught my attention, "The world is on their way to you, but they're tripping over me.".  Wow.  I stopped what I was doing, grabbed a note card and wrote it down.  Then I read it again.  The truth in it hit me.

I am a follower of Christ.  I believe that in Him is life and that all life is held together in and through Him.  Therefore, I believe the words that have come from Him are pure truth.  There is not anything in this world that is true, that is not His.

As I grow older, I become less convinced that I have all of the answers.  There are things in this world that I am not so sure of anymore.  It seems the older I get, the less I know or the more I know that I don't know.  Does that make sense?  The one thing I do know is God is who He says He is.  God loves me.  God loves you.  While other things get more confusing, God does not.  

This world is confusing.  When I get confused, I go to the Truth.  What does the author of all say about it?  This causes me to take a look at what He calls the greatest commandment in Matthew 22 - "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'"This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'"  Did you get that last part?  Everything hangs on these two things - Love God, love your neighbor (as yourself).  It's a short order, but a tall one.  This is going to take a while to master - the rest of my life, I'm guessing.

To me, that means before I can get too bogged down with the stuff of life, I need to Love God with everything I am and have AND love my neighbor as myself.  Again, wow.  I return to this quite often.  I question a lot.  I always have.  When I question something - an issue, an opinion, etc. I must put it up against this.  My first job is to love God.  My second is to love my neighbor (as myself).  When I don't do this, something doesn't work.  I get off track or hung up on the non-essentials in life.  That's why those lyrics jumped out at me like they did.  I don't want to get in someone's way.

I am reminded of a quote that I like, "In essentials, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, in all things, love."  This, of course, will beg the question - what is essential and what is not?  That, I cannot - or will not - answer for you.  As for me, I go back to the author of it all and seek my answer.  In the meantime, I will try my best to love.

What a treat!

Just in case you didn't know it, I am married to a smart man.  One of the many reasons I know this is, after being out of town for a couple of days, he came in the door with a surprise for ME.  Of course, it had to be my picture of the day - a box of Moon Pies and an RC Cola! 

Guess what my post run treat will be tomorrow :-)

It is Spring!

Is there a more perfect picture for Spring than this?  I don't think so!

A couple of weeks ago, a beautiful hanging plant appeared on my doorstep.  I didn't know where it came from until a couple of days later, I talked to one of my daughters and she asked, "Oh!  Did you like the plant?".  What a treat!  She got it as she was passing through on her way to a friend's for the weekend and dropped it off on my front porch. :-)

A few days ago I kept noticing a bird flying away from the porch every time I left the house or came home.  I figured it had to be that plant.  Every time I hang a plant, I get a bird.  Some people think this is annoying, but I like it.  It's so beautiful.  The picture is kind of small, so you may not be able to see - there are 4 blue eggs and 1 brown speckled one.  It will be fun to see them hatch.  I am sure I'll post another picture when they arrive.

Thanks, Anna!