great expectations...the Daniel fast

Sometimes you get a little peek into the extraordinary. It's rare. It's fleeting...you know it when it happens. The little hairs on your arms raise. The excitement in your spirit man bubbles up and you sit back in awe and marvel. That's what this sunset did to me. It made me marvel. It makes me tear up just thinking about it.  Holy ground...God's creation in all it's splendor. Right there. Over me...around me. Close enough to touch...to breath in.  I did nothing to these pics, but crop and add my watermark.  It was just that breathtaking.

I've been in a fasting place. I'm on my fifth day. The first couple were challenging. I just wanted to crawl into bed and never leave. I had no energy. I still have moments of this, but I feel better. I know what to eat...which really hasn't varied much from day one. I know this is where I'm at right now and I feel myself settling into it. There isn't a struggle. I'm not fighting. I'm loving what's coming. I can feel it. It's called expectancy!

During a fast you are supposed to lean in. Tune in to God. Listen to what He's been telling you, but you've been too distracted to notice. I've been reading in Daniel...since I'm doing the Daniel Fast it seemed like a good place to start. It's not the first time I've read Daniel, but for some reason I've got fresh eyes on it. I'm reading about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace. I'm learning about these great men of God that when challenged to bow before false gods they said no.  

It's like my eyes are being peeled back.  Is this what my God wants?  Am I to have that kind of faith too?  Am I to boldly declare my faith and stand strong against the heat?  Am I to be fearless in the midst of danger??  I don't know, but I feel my skin prick as I think those thoughts.  Would I trust Him enough to be thrown into that fiery furnace?  Oh my...



I have this sense of God wanting to reveal himself to me in a big way.  He doesn't need to prove His power or His might, but regardless He is.  He's giving me glimpses of His splendor and it literally brings me to my knees.  I want to cover my head...hide.  It's almost too much.  I can feel His presence.  I can.

Some of you have asked me about the spiritual component of doing the fast and I've just taken lead from the Daniel Fast book I've been reading.  Susan Gregory suggested reading through Daniel, and maybe reading a chapter of Proverbs and a few chapters of Psalms daily.


I've made a prayer list of things I'd like to see God work out in my life and I've also added the needs of my family and friends.  I've set an alarm on my phone to ring three times a day to remind me to pray...like Daniel.  I haven't been perfect in following this.  I don't want to be ritualistic.  This isn't for God to see...it's for me to draw closer to Him.  I'm not trying to be perfect.  I can't be, but He sees my heart.  It's a heart matter.

 

 

There is a feeling of great expectancy.  I know that He is going to do a work in and through me.  That truth makes me lean into the future...because I know He holds it firmly in His hands.

Be a blessing.

939.  sunsets

940.  silhouettes of my girls in the night

941.  tamara

942.  adventures

943.  birds that twirled and danced just for us...on cue

944.  a God who loves me and wants to delight me with His presence

homebodies unite

See this face?  Oh my word...I love this face.  If little chick had her way we would stay home 24/7.  She's a homebody through and through.  She loves nothing more than to play Barbie with her sister in the basement or be with her bestie across the street.  Her idea of bliss is a bowlful of cottage cheese and a snuggle date with Fergie on the couch.  She's simple.

And truthfully since we've moved here I've fallen into the homebody category also.  Not by choice, just by chance.  We live far it seems from everything.  I like warm bodies present with me when I gallivant, and that's not always possible.  So instead I hibernate. It kind of gets to me after awhile, and I get major cabin fever and HAVE to get out of the house. 


So despite the protests of my little we go...that's why I made the summer to-do list.  We've made progress on most of it.  Maymont Park just needed crossed off, so without much thought to sticky temps and irritable moms...ME;) We loaded up our sweet neighbors and went on a fieldtrip.

A definite perk to living in Richmond is this quirky park.  There is a part that looks like Italy, Japan and Hawaii.  It's really cool.  They have a beautiful waterfall that if you close your eyes and listen to the water you feel just like you are in a tropical rainforest.  The effect becomes all the more real with hair sticking to the side of my face and sweat dripping down my back.  It's kinda like visiting Hawaii, but without the super long plane ride...or the beautiful beaches:(

The trees are plentiful.

Critters are everywhere to be found;)

And there are lots of places in general to explore.  Gotta love a day of exploring.

It's no secret I would inevitably be the first person kicked off of Survivor.  I'm not exactly the outdoorsy type, primarily because I hate to sweat unless I'm working out, hate bugs, hate weeds...need food etc...  BUT I love being surrounded by His creation, so a little bit of discomfort is worth it.  I guess...ha!  Even my little chick thought so...miracles DO happen;)

***Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the virtual hugs and love regarding my dad's health.  He sees the doctor this week and will know more about what he can and can't do.  We covet each and every one of your prayers.  They are making a difference...thank you so much!!!

Have a blessed day.

715.  a community of believers that lift up and rally

716.  friends that listen and love

717.  a God who knows the whole plan, so i don't have to wonder

718.  memory making with my girls

719.  summer heat that warms the skin...making me feel

what a year can bring

{read about it here}

 

I've been sifting through old posts.  Collecting my thoughts~collecting images.  It's been a year since we pulled our car out of Chaska, leaving Minnesota behind.  At that moment with the rain spitting on us, and a sad Amy Grant song filtering through my speakers, I felt such a heaviness.  We were leaving a place very dear to our hearts.  We had made a home in Minnesota, raised our girls up there.  We were leaving dear friends.  It was painful.

We knew God had a new chapter for us.  Mixed in with the tears was excitement.  And that's what propelled us forward into the unknown.  When I think back over this past year I think of us...

{read about it here}

fluffing a new nest...

{read about it here} 

{read about it here}

investing in new friendships...

{read about it here}

{read about it here}

{read about it here}

exploring new places...

{read about it here}

building our faith...

{read about it here}

{read about it here}

the chick's spreading their wings...

{read about it here}

 

I think of our family becoming closer.  Of challenges that drew us together. 

{read about it here}

I think of those first few months and how hard they were.  How I ached inside for normalcy...for this place to feel like home.

{read about it here}

I think of God's promise to carry us through if we just took that giant leap of faith...and that's what it was.  There was no big flashing sign telling us it was the right decision. There wasn't even a real "this is it" feeling.  For us it came down to prayer, a hand raise and then a phone call saying we're in.  Talk about scary. 

We still are rooting in.  We have goals to be involved in our church.  We envision couples here for dinner and maybe a small bible study group.  Honey is still finding his footing with his career.  I'm seeking something new.  Something.  But collectively we are glad we decided to take that leap.  It's been a struggle at times, but our God is Faithful and no matter if this our forever home or not we are constantly reminded of His hand guiding us...leading us straight.  It really is amazing what a year can bring.

Have a blessed day.

662.  provision for the unknown
663.  His safety net
664.  the sweet friends in my life
665.  a home we love
666.  a church that speaks truth and worships freely
667.  smooth transitions for the girls

cutting strings

I'm sitting here full of emotion.  We close on our Minnesota house tomorrow once and for all.  All the pieces finally came together.  We got our buyers!!  God is amazingly good.  Thinking about the house I can't help but reflect on when we first moved in.  Big Chick was three and Little Chick was still in a car seat.  We pulled up so anxious and excited.  We had walked through the house when it was just drywall, now we would see it in it's completion.  It didn't disappoint.  The smell of fresh paint and carpet...the new everything.  It was SO exciting.  It was our first dream house.


Seven years and a million memories later I sat alone in that basement with packed boxes all around me...reliving all the family time we had spent in that room.  All the things I had made in my studio, the dreams that had been realized.  I kind of had a "moment" with the house.  I thanked God for blessing us and for all the time shared there.  I prayed that He would send a new owner that would love the house as much as we did.

It's been 8 months.  We've been here that long!  Can you believe it??

(the leaving post) 

It actually feels like a lot longer.  In 8 months I have made so many friends. I probably know more people here than I did in MN after 7 years.  After the initial freak out of trying to find my place and constantly comparing Virginia to our Minnesota...it has finally become home. 

Not sure when the happiness finally seeped into my soul, or when the morning dread disappeared.  It was almost startling when it did.  I remember driving around, probably winding down some tree lined path, and I could feel my heart FULL.  Like really full.  Ready to explode FULL!  I don't know how else to describe it.  Everything suddenly seemed to make sense.  I didn't have to convince myself that I knew we had made the right decision...that someday it would all feel right.  The day had come when I knew that I was walking in that truth.  That the giant leap of faith planted us right where we were supposed to be.  PRAISE GOD!

 (the leap of faith announcement post)

So here's to looking forward...to plunging ahead to whatever else God has in our path.  Here's to stepping off that ledge and blindly obeying.  Here's to old strings being cut and new ones being tied up with careful hands. Here's to a God that hears my every plea and takes me by the hand and rescues me.

Have a blessed day.

**Don't forget to sign up for the give-away here.  I'll pick the winner Friday.

494.  spray tan

495.  my tropical candle that makes me hear palm trees swaying

496.  a new piece of art

497.  a spurt of energy...clean closets

498.  a new buyer for our home

499.  closing that chapter and focusing on the new one

masks

I think a lot about fear.  Maybe because lately I'm faced with it on a day to day basis.  It occured to me as I was driving the other day that I've crossed a milestone with living here.  When we first got here every time I got in the car to drive somewhere I was terrified.  The roads are extremely narrow with no shoulders.  They curve and dip and leave your stomach in knots.  I would even get a little car sick.  Every time a person would pass me I would raise up my shoulders, squint my eyes and let out a little EEEEEK!  Because it looked like they were going to hit me for sure.



It dawned on me as I was whizzing through the trees on my very own roller coaster/race track home the other day, that I'm passed that particular fear.  YIPPEEE!!!!  For the most part I don't shriek anymore.  My heart doesn't race every time I pull out onto that road, and the only thing I can think of that got me over that fear was that I HAD NO CHOICE, but to do it every.single.day.  There is no other route.  No other option.  Sometimes you just have to do it afraid.  Uh and pleading with God to help me might have had a little part in it too;)

Fast forward to last night where my friend Maureen dragged me into another adventure.  Well she didn't really have to drag me I was jumping at the bit to go;)  She has an amazing group of friends and we've set up a craft group called f.e.a.t. (friends exploring art together).  Once a month we are going to meet and share a fun craft/skill with each other.  Isn't that like the best idea ever!!!

Last night was our first meeting and it was appropriately called masks and margaritas:)  You take stripes of plaster gauze, wet them and apply them all over your very Vaselined face...making a really cool mask.  It sets up pretty fast and after it's hardened you can paint and decorate it.  That's our next meeting.

Maureen.  Isn't she beautiful??  Love the mummified look she had going on!  Creepy:)

Taking the mask off was a bit tricky.  You had to pull it really slow, because it suctions to your face a little bit and it stings slightly.  I'm thinking we all just got a great spa exfoliation treatment for free;)

 

Okay so my turn came around.  Never thought I'd show myself in a shower cap and Vaseline on here...but there's always a first time for everything;)

About halfway in something kind of snapped to attention in me and I hit a panic wall.  It was like oh yeah I'm supposed to be afraid...cue heart racing NOW.  I'm a little claustrophobic.  I don't like airplanes or tight spaces...forget about going under water, but I thought I might be able to do this.   Unfortunately the fear just reared up it's ugly head. 

I wanted more than anything to just rip that thing OFF MY FACE!!!!!  Get it OFF.  I got up.  Took some deep breaths.  Kept reminding myself that I could breath and had my Nan finish me.  That's the thing with fear.  Most of the time it's irrational.  Will that spider hurt you?  Will talking in front of people be the worst thing that could happen?  Actually that's another biggie for me.  That's why I hide behind a computer;) 


Not sure if Nan was trying to distract me or what but pretty soon she started telling a story that made me want to laugh so hard, but I couldn't.  I would retell it, but it's completely inappropriate for my sweet little blog here. 

The reward for not ripping of the mask is that I get a cool visual of overcoming that panic attack.  I did something afraid.  Oh yeah and I moved to Virginia.  I drive on that death trap of a road everyday.  I make stuff.  I write stuff, and present it to you.  And day in and day out I'm reminded that it's alright to go for your dreams.  It's alright to be afraid.  It's just a reminder that you are living and breathing and human after all.  Just don't let it stop you. 

Have a blessed weekend.

242.  thank God it's FRIDAY

243.  meeting new creative women

244.  overcoming fear

245.  finding someone to teach me Lightroom

246.  my new "where women create" magazine...inspiration overload