Chapter 16
She summarizes being a stay at home mom so well in this chapter, as well as a working mom. Don’t you think? I wish I had the gift of reading this chapter when I was in the thick of it as a stay at home mom. If you are in the thick of it, read this chapter. But it still encouraged me today. I might not be changing diapers, but I’m still waking up early and going to bed late, doing the lunches, breakfasts, homework, carpool, after school activities, and dishes (to name a few), while still trying to love them well and take care of myself, so I can love them well. It’s all there. It all takes focus, discipline, and determination (to keep going, to not numb, to choose to do it well). I saved this quote by Craig Groeschel on my phone, and it seems perfect for this chapter– “Discipline is choosing what we want MOST over what we want NOW.”
Chapter 17
Did you do it? Did you write something down? AHHHHHHHH! Am I the only one who majorly struggled with this exercise? At one point she said something like, just write anything, remember just start, do something. That got me to write something. When I was thinking about writing a grand ole mission statement for life, it was daunting, but just writing something I can do. I got quiet with God, looked at my GAIN list, and let Him lead the way. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s something.
Chapter 18
Ok, I kinda feel dense, and I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I never thought about paying attention to a goal or an intention you make. I mean obviously if you set out to run a marathon, you’re keeping track of your goal naturally, but if you’re making a general goal for yourself, I just never thought to track it. But, DUH! If you want things to change, you’re going to have to pay attention to whether you’re on track. I put my intention/goal at the top of my to do list on my phone. I look at that list daily, if not 5 times a day. Now I gotta figure out how to track my progress. Is looking at it and keeping it in my mind good enough? Ha!
Chapter 19
I like this practical chapter! Not only do we need to track and pay attention to our goal, or even just our well being (isn’t that this most important goal?), but we need to set ourselves up for success by paying attention to our environment, to the people we choose to be around, and our intake (food, shows, etc.). If we are wanting to be a certain way or achieve a certain goal, we are going to have to look around us and assess. Duh! I also didn’t think about this- I think I’ve just naturally done this because my BIG feeling self can’t help it.
Chapter 20
DISCIPLINE… Am I the only one who’s had this word pop up in every book, article, Instagram post, Facebook post, podcast, and audio book they’ve listened to or read in the last 30 days? Ha! Clearly, God’s trying to tell me something. I’ve decided it’s my word for 2022. I told my sister this and she said,” I think you are a very disciplined person”. I agree, but here’s the way I’m not disciplined, and it’s not minor- I allow my feelings of apathy, unmotivated, I don’t want to’s, I don’t FEEL like it, I don’t have to, I’ll do it later, stop me. For me, discipline is mastering my emotions.
“Do what you have to do now, so you can do what you want to do later.”
How about you?
Chapter 21
“When things got difficult or boring–I quit” CHECK.
“We doubt…” CHECK.
“We simply don’t exercise the discipline to stick to the program.” CHECK.
“We prefer to not stay in places that make us feel uneasy.” CHECK.
“We don’t want things to be hard.” CHECK.
“We hesitate.” CHECK.
“We give up.” CHECK.
“We decide not to embrace the process…” CHECK.
“Nobody wants to be uncomfortable” TRUTH.
Did anyone else catch this very profound (to me anyway) line?
“It was easier to settle for the worst than to hope for HIS best.”
I mean, let that settle in for a sec. To have hope in Christ in dark times is hard work, and this is the first time someone has ever acknowledged it. Like, it’s really hard work. My brain just wants to go along with my feelings. It takes work to go find scripture that combats my thoughts, to remember all the times He was faithful over and over again, or to remember all of His promises. Hard. Work. BUT…..
Here’s that word again… DISCIPLINE. It takes discipline to keep going. It takes discipline to hope for HIS best. It takes discipline to put one foot in front of the other. It takes discipline to keep going with the little clues you have in front of you, even though you don’t know the outcome.
And in case you missed it you can find more of my thoughts on Part 4 HERE I shared on instagram.
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