Monday Musings

Out in my yard today... it's sunny and a balmy 65 degrees. We've been having some beautiful weather, but the forecast says that colder days are ahead later this week. I've been trying to get used to a different view in my backyard. It used to look like this:

 

But now it looks like this:

 

 

The honey locust in the middle of the yard was starting to die. There just wasn't enough room for it to spread out and get adequate sunlight with all of the other trees in the yard. It started leaning towards the house and would have eventually come down, so we had it removed. It seems kind of empty out there now. This is all that is left:

 

 

There is one lone mum still blooming.

 

I'm grateful for... the opportunity to write about parenting for 31 days in October. Last year I followed several 31 day bloggers and briefly considered doing this myself, but I wasn't very serious. One night in late July, God woke me up out of a sound sleep and spoke so very clearly to my heart. He gave me the theme, the name, and the topics for all 31 days. The whole process has been truly extraordinary. In the midst of all of this, my daughter Brianna was also inspired to start a blog and write for 31 days. It was wonderful to share this experience with her.

One of my favorite things... is this little desk that my mother-in-law recently gave me. It had lived for many years in her parents' home and she generously passed it along to me. I had been looking for a secretary style desk to use for my work space. This one is a real treasure!

 

This week I'm reading... I Declare by Joel Osteen. 

 

I'm looking forward to... election day tomorrow! This campaign season seems to have gone on forever! At least I don't live in a battle-ground state. The annoying commercials here have mostly been concerning local and state issues. I am ready to go exercise my right to vote!

 

Simple life tip for the week... this one comes from Joel Osteen. We all make "I am..." statements several times each day. Whatever follows our "I am..." will follow after us. For example, if we say "I am tired," then we will be tired. If we say "I am frustrated," then we will continue to be frustrated. Our words have creative power. If we want to have positive things in our lives, then we need to make positive "I am..." statements. "I am energized." "I am highly favored." "I am blessed." This week, try making several positive "I am..." statements throughout each day and see what happens.