Lisa notes

Welcome, Hope – 3 Ways to Have More Hope

By LisaNotes March 21, 2016 Welcome 22 Comments

stained-glass-window-Bahamas

We all have times we need to welcome hope, such as,

  • When the pain doesn’t go away
  • When the relationship is not improving
  • When the doubts still linger

We want to be hopeful. We want to be resilient.

In my 2016 year of “Welcome,” I’m using Brené Brown’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection, as a guideline of what to welcome each month. For March, I’m reading her Guidepost #3, “Cultivating a Resilient Spirit.”

Brené says the five most common factors of resilient people are:

  1. They are resourceful
  2. They are likely to seek help
  3. They believe they can cope
  4. They have social support
  5. They are connected with others

Does that sound like you? Here’s the good news. Even if you don’t think resiliency or hopefulness is one of your natural traits, there are things you can do to be more hopeful.

Because, as Brené says, “Hope is not an emotion; it’s a way of thinking.”

We improve our hope factor when:

  1. We learn how to set realistic goals
  2. We remain flexible in how we reach those goals
  3. We believe in ourselves

If hopefulness is a learned behavior (and isn’t that fact alone hope-filled?) we can consciously choose hope, despite doubts and fears that may arise in and around us.

As believers in Christ, we have a built-in advantage for hope. That doesn’t mean that it comes automatically (haven’t we all experienced times of hopelessness?).

But through faith in the constant presence of Love that lives in us and through us, we have far more reasons to maintain hope, not only for later in the afterlife, but also for now in this life.

With Jesus in us, hope shines as a light from within.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross says,

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”

May the Light shine brightly through you this week.

Welcome, hope!

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Does hope come naturally to you? How do you maintain hope when it would be easy to give up? Please share your thoughts on hope in the comments.

“Breaking Busy” by Alli Worthington – Book Review

By LisaNotes March 17, 2016 Book reviews 20 Comments

Breaking+Busy+Book.+Be+who+you+were+created+to+be,+not+who+people+say+you+should+be.+Alli+Worthington

If you feel your life is too crazy, you might want to read Alli Worthington’s book, Breaking Busy.

You’ll pick up a few tips. You’ll be motivated to drop some things or change some things in your life. She makes some valid points.

But as I read, this nagging feeling stayed with me: To break busy, stop reading books that don’t add much value to my life. I’m getting better at it. I can stop cold-turkey if a book isn’t worth my time.

But when I receive books to review as in this case, I have to make it to the end.

So while I can’t whole-heartedly recommend this book—not because it’s bad, but just because it’s nothing new—here are some things I did glean from it.

Quotes from Breaking Busy by Alli Worthington:

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Signs your body gives that you’re too busy:

  • Sign #1: An Inability to Control Your Emotions
  • Sign #2: Lack of Self-Care
  • Sign #3: Illness
  • Sign #4: Chronic Lateness
  • Sign #5: Self-Medicating and Excess
  • Sign #6: Neglecting Important Relationships
  • Sign #7: Neglecting God

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Ask yourself if you have ever thought, “I’ll be happy when . . .” Do you believe the lie that you can’t really be happy and have peace in your life until some benchmark is reached?

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Questions to ask yourself to identify your passions:

  1. What activities have you loved since childhood?
  2. What tugs at your heart?
  3. If money were no object, what would you do for free?
  4. What energizes you?
  5. What is something everyone says you are good at?

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My favorite saying used to be, “I just need a few more hours in each day!” But what I learned was that I didn’t need more time. I needed to focus on my goals and what I needed to do to reach them.

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I like to ask myself what “future Alli” will think about decisions. Whether it is eating that extra piece of carrot cake with ice cream (and I can put away extra pieces of carrot cake and ice cream!) or taking time away from writing this book and the family to speak at an event. When I think of what “future Alli” will be happy with, it makes the decision making clearer.

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Just because we live in a world of seemingly endless expectations doesn’t mean we have to live up to them.

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Read Chapter One here

Read more quotes and get Alli’s digital toolkit here

My thanks to BookLook Bloggers
for the review copy of this book

5 Tips for Better Journaling

By LisaNotes March 16, 2016 Spiritual disciplines 41 Comments

Journaling-is-a-way-of-slowing-life-down_David-Mathis

I’m off and on with journaling. I know it’s beneficial, but it doesn’t always come easily.

But as I read David Mathis’s newest book, Habits of Grace, he inspires me to continue journaling, even the small amount I do.

Mathis reminds us that journaling isn’t just about recording the past, but also about preparing for the future. And also about deepening our joy in the present.

“There is always more going on in us and around us than we can appreciate at the time. Journaling is a way of slowing life down for just a few moments, and trying to process at least a sliver of it for the glory of God, our own growth and development, and our enjoyment of the details.”

Here are five of his tips (rephrased in my words) to journal better.

  1. One sentence is fine

Mathis suggests keeping it simple. Just write something—even if it’s just one sentence—during our daily journaling. I know that works for me; only expecting one sentence from myself is doable. And often leads to more. But if not, that’s fine, too.

  1. Gaps are okay

Don’t worry if you miss a few days. Mathis says that “The best of lifelong journals are ‘incomplete’ in that they can’t possibly hold everything of significance.” While it’s hard for me to leave gaps between days, I know it’s better to let go of perfectionism or else I’ll stop altogether.

  1. Your words are private

Do you think your journals will go public one day? Think your kids will read them when you’re gone? Mathis says settle this question now: No. It’s unlikely anyone will ever read what you’re writing. The sooner you make peace with that, the clearer and more honest your journals will become. (I’ve already asked Jeff to destroy my journals once I’m gone.)

  1. Preach to yourself

Take a tip from the psalmist King David: start out with your honest despair, but close with hope by reminding yourself of the beauty, help, and goodness around you.

  1. Stick with it

Journaling may disappear for seasons in your life, but do return to it when you think of it again. The benefits may be visible quickly, or may only come later. But when they do appear, you’ll be glad that you didn’t give up after the newness wore off.

Your journaling practices may ebb and flow, and may change forms through the years. That’s okay. Remember there’s no right or wrong way to journal (and it’s certainly never a requirement). The best way for you to journal is simply the one you will do.

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Do you journal? How do you do it? Please share in the comments.

Links, books, and other things I love – March 2016

By LisaNotes March 2, 2016 Life updates, Links I like 24 Comments

1 SECOND EVERYDAY – February edition

[click here if you can’t see the video]

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AROUND THE WEB

• White Privilege
Um, this one might make us uncomfortable. It’s important reading on “What my white, heterosexual, educated, first world privilege is teaching me about empowerment.” I just finished reading Ta-Nehesi’s Between the World and Me so I’m already convicted.

• Stop Complaining about People in Poverty (At Least Around Me)
And while we’re at it, keep reading this by Shawn Smucker.

• How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body
Yet another new study shows a little bit of mindfulness can go a long way.

• School Digger
An interesting site to evaluate any public school in America.

• 4 Common Mistakes with Pronouns
Henneke says that silly mistakes with pronouns are like tiny pebbles in our shoes. Take the time to stop and remove them.

• Favorite blog tools from ProBlogger
In this podcast (and in the blog notes) Darrin Rowse gives links to his favorite tools that save time and make his blogs stronger.

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ON READING

• 10 Rewarding Reasons to Read
Why do you read? Can you pick a favorite reason from the list? I couldn’t decide: maybe 2 or 3 or 6 or 10.

• Quiz: “How comfortable are you with uncertainty?”
This quiz is from the book, Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing, by Jamie Holmes. I’ve not read it, but I hope to.

• Books I recommend from February reading

Books I Recommend February 2016

• Currently reading:

  1. The Marriage of Opposites (Alice Hoffman)
  2. Habits of Grace (David Mathis)
  3. Walden (Henry David Thoreau)
  4. Breaking Busy (Alli Worthington)
  5. Reliving the Passion (Walter Wangerin Jr.)
  6. A Return to Love (Marianne Williamson)
  7. The Path of Centering Prayer (David Frenette)

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THINGS I LOVE

• Old photos
In cleaning up boxes of photos, I ran across this lovely picture of hubby Jeff with his brother Steve and parents from the 1960s. Such a classic. 

burgess-family

• Memorizing in community
Our group at Do Not Depart is continuing to memorize Matthew 6 together. It’s aways enlightening to spend extended time in one section of scripture. Weekly blog posts are here.

memorizing matthew 6

• Cruise!
Looking forward to vacationing soon with my 4 Corner friends (picture below) and our spouses. On a cruise! (I never thought I’d get Jeff on a cruise, and well, it hasn’t happened yet. Check back next month.)

• Sleepover
We had our annual spend-the-night party two weeks ago to discuss plans about the newest memories we’ll be making together on the water and in the Bahamas. 

4-Corners-2016

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ON THE BLOG

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What are you looking forward to in March? Please share in the comments.

Linking at Leigh Kramer’s
My previous posts

On the blog – February 2016

By LisaNotes February 29, 2016 Archives No Comments