Reclaim Your Life – A Challenge
Alright, perhaps I should have titled today’s post, Reclaim my life, but I figured you may want to come along for the ride…maybe you need to reclaim your life as well.
I had some serious thinking and praying to do after realizing that I was starting to feel like my kids were burdens…and my life in general was just something to accept grudgingly figuring that one day it would be better…one day…
No more am I going to let this kind of thinking suck the joy from life! While I have to lose myself and let go of self-entitlement, I don’t want to do those things in a robotic fashion that would bear the mark of a dead spirit by just doing. Oh no, I have the Holy Spirit in me and it is anything but dead, so why should I live any other way than fully alive?
Okay, so what’s the challenge? I challenge YOU to reclaim your life in any area/areas that are robotic, dead, unfruitful, joyless, and/or disobedient. We’re going to do it together! I sense a series coming on… (Are you feeling motivated yet? I am!)
Join me tomorrow as we begin to reclaim our lives.
Spending my time sleep walking
Moving my mouth but not saying a thing
Hoping the changes would take by working their way from the outside in
I was in love with an idea
Preoccupied with how a life should appear
Spending my time at the surface repairing the holes in the shiny veneer…
I’m going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that’s honest and real until I’m truly amazed
I’m going to feel all my emotions
I’m going to look you in the eyes
I’m going to listen and hear until it’s finally clear and it changes our lives
There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real
And I just showed up for my own life
And I’m standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright
Oh the glory of God is man fully alive
Oh the glory of God is man fully alive
-Sara Groves, Just Showed Up
Reclaiming Your Life (an ongoing series):
Reclaiming Your Life…by losing it
Living Unbounded By Feminist Fear
Making Our Priorities A Reality
You Are Prepared For The Battle
Join me every day for coffee by subscribing here!
I love this post. I was thinking along the same lines. I hope you don't mind, but I swiped your "MMM" icon and put it on my blog post for MMM so people could find you. Thanks Diann :)
i think i'm going to have trouble trying to "reclaim" something, cause really i don't feel like i've ever had a handle on anything, not the way i'd like to at least. this WILL be a challenge! :)
Great post! And I love that song by Sara Groves…in fact I like most anything she sings ;0) – Blessings to you, Katy
I admit, sometimes I just go through the motions of each day and at the end I think, "Hmm, did I even spend "any" quality time with my kids or did I just "do" what I had to "do". Thanks for this and the motivation to change my way of thinking. You're right, I have the Holy Spirit in me and He is not dead but alive!!Blessings to you sweet friend.Kim Now I know why they come to your blog for inspiration. Though I do think I've contributed to the cause this morning with a very helpful tip for the swine flu! Just doing my part!Love you sister!
So, my challenge area would be – COMPLAINING. I've been convicted as of late, I just complain too much. I complain over nothing, piddly stuff. One word really stuck out to me in this post: "self-entitlement". Yep. I've got to get over myself.
I'm looking forward to this, and I'm totally with you on it! I've been feeling that way in a couple of areas of my life lately. Thanks for keeping me in check. :)
When I remember that I deserve death, even the worst days are beautiful!!
Some times i need to read my own posts to motivate myself as well. thanks for the walk up call. http://www.zcouple.com
I look forward to reading more about the upcoming challenge. I can very-much relate, and it sounds like we're on the same path. I'm trying to keep myself accountable by regularly (Saturday) posting of Living Mindfully.
Thanks, Sarah Mae. I woke up this morning and cried as I made my list of things I need to accomplish this week. Then I read your post, and I cried again for a different reason. So now I'm in this challenge along with you. Laundry and dishes, here I come! Holy Spirit, power me up! And may God get the glory for work done with a servant's heart. Today I choose to be thankful for 6 loads of laundry and a mountain of dishes. They are proof of a wonderful husband, 2 precious children, and some cherished friends who stayed the weekend with us.
Thank you for posting this today. I love that song and I've never heard it before. I plan to buy it today.Thanks for the reminder!
How interesting because that is really what I was posting about today, too. Changing the attitude of the way I do things. I'm going to love this series!!
I've been listening to some fabulous broadcasts on FocusOnTheFamily.com recently. I'd recommend "Encouragement for Stay-at-Home Moms" and "Encouraging Words For Moms". They're funny, real, and biblical!
I think some of us are on the same page today-or at least we're walking in each other's shoes! Great post!
Wonderful post! I can't wait for the series to start!
Oh how I heart Sara Groves. If I could write songs, they would be like hers.
This is a timely challenge. Doesn't God just have a way of being right on time? I have been having these feelings of "can I really do this (being a good mom)?This morning I cried and threw my hands up. In and of myself I can NOT do this; but the HOLY SPIRIT inside me sure can!!! Sometimes, I have a pity party because I feel that I don't know HOW to do this right. My mom died when I was a little girl, so after that I was overindulged by many (a bratty undisciplined child, I was). Then, just the other day, I (for I think the first time ever) realized that I have to stop looking at all of my extenuating circumstances and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. So, here I go, on the next phase of the journey. I WANT TO DO THIS RIGHT….BY GOD!!!I WANT HIM TO BE WELL PLEASED WITH MY CHILDREN and MY MOTHERING. OH GOD, MOVE THROUGH THIS BROKEN VESSEL!!! I NEED YOU MORE THAN EVERRRR,Melissap.s. Thanks for making this a place where we can be real, even if it's yucky. :`(
oh, don't we all have areas we need to reclaim, or spring clean? please do update us on the process-you're so good at that!kristen
I had to link up again for a second post. My wife was such motivating me this afternoon with unexpect sweet note.check it out: http://www.zcouple.com
Being a wife and mother is such a beautiful blessing. But sometimes it can seem as if life is passing you by. I've been there and I will gladly tell my story! I hope we can band together to uplift each other.
"I'm going to listen and hear until it's finally clear and it changes our lives" Oooh, that's good, girl. I thought you wrote this until I saw Sarah Groves's name at the bottom. I don't have any of her CDs but I love her stuff. Very "my life". I wish I had a link to post, but I'm right in the middle of it, too. Just got off the phone with my precious husband, after he encouraged me that I am not a failure. I am truly blessed. By the way, just so you know, I'm having a giveaway over at my blog! Come enter for a pretty birdie!
This sounds good…
Thank you for visiting my blog and letting me join your MMM meme! Have a blessed week!
I've been feeling overwhelmed with homeschool decisions, lessons, etc. The year is winding down but we need to finish strong. This will be good for me.
This really challenged me, and it stayed with me all day. I just wrote up a post about this after thinking about what you'd said. This is definitely going to be a challenge….but I'm looking forward to it. Thank you for this! Oh, and I love Sara Groves' music!
Oh, what a great post, and a perfect way to end it with Sara's song. How can people see Jesus in us when they can't see how He has healed our brokenness. Thanks for being a spot where people can share that brokenness and the healing. :)
Excellent post and yet another good series I can tell!! I definitely need this too.I do feel a little bit renewed of why I do what I do at home after my trip and being somewhat a servant for my Dad and then for my sis.Looking forward to this!
I am ready to reclaim my life and I will be back tomorrow to see how we are going to do it. Thanks for the inspiration. Woooo Hoooo!God is so Good!