April 23, 2013 - Yard Work

Okay, so I have now started to move through the required steps with my devotional cookbook and would really love some prayer. I am slightly overwhelmed with the enormity of the project and yet have simply said I'll do what I can a piece at a time. Distribution could occur by the late fall or early winter of next year. The devotional cookbook is not something ever before seen on the market and the lay-out is being generated from scratch. Soooooo, here we go. This morning let's talk about the beginning journey of yard work following the winter. Now maybe you are joyful when this journey begins each spring. Maybe you, like me, love color and the dead leaves finally feel overwhelming. If only I could blink like I Dream Of Jenie and they would all disappear, that would make me smile. (of course I feel the same way about the armadillo - I have now started praying over the cage and will keep you posted) But how many of you know that looking at the leaves and wishing they would be removed and actually grabbing the rake and blower and beginning the process ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. I started about three weeks ago talking myself through the back pain, the tired muscles, and the long days or preparing the yard for the new plants I had gathered. But that starting thing.......UGH! The good news is WE STARTED Saturday and worked some again Sunday afternoon. Then yesterday evening a few extra hours were added to the 2013 project. And now that we are rolling, I can see it. The colors are popping, the perennials are emerging in freedom as the leaves of death have been removed and before my eyes is LIFE. I so love it! Saturday morning all I could see was death. Last night I stood and realized after just a couple of days, we are half way into the 2013 project and LIFE is all around again. Remember, the small things can become the big things, so celebrate the small beginnings and see them as valuable. But sometimes starting the small things SEEM enormous and our failure seems bigger than our victory. Let me remind you that momentum comes from movement. M-O words can be life giving. Perhaps choosing health daily seems like an unattainable goal. It's not! If you can simply choose to be healthy one 24 hour period WITH THE PROMISE TO NOT RETURN AND RE-ENTER THE DOOR OF UNHEALTHY WAYS, and then choose health another 24 hour period, you will soon find that being healthy is easier than you imagine. (or dread) Here's the thing - imagine, dread, fear are all words locked in our brains that are designed to keep us from starting. However, if in our BRAINS, we could start imagining ourselves healthy, overcoming dread with daily boundaries of truth and discipline, and allow the Holy Spirit to help us control our negative patterns, we could celebrate the small victories. That's how I did it. I set a small goal to get through 42 days with NO CHEATING and purposeful, healthy choices. Greatest decision I ever made. I never stumbled once during that period (as I MEANT I could do 42 days), but at the end I thought, "42 days of success, why turn back? I'll try another month and then I'll see." I am 2 1/2 years down the road. You can do it. Don't allow the dread of starting to keep you bound. Start today and never, never look back. Clearly mark all EXIT doors so you have no way of escape to your old journey. Have a great day, PK