What is Your Kryptonite?

I am not superman, but I definitely have my own kryptonite.  I bet you do too.  Have you ever thought about what it is? 

Why even think about it?  We may not be dodging into phone booths (I know, what is that - ha!) and changing into our super outfit to save people from a nearby, evil nemesis, but you are the hero of your life, at least you should be.  You also aren't perfect so you can either be ignorant and ignore all your shortcomings or fake and pretend they don't exist, or you can put on your big girl pants and face it. 

What's my kryptonite? I'm severely easily distracted.  I mean I can be talking to you about one thing and then...squirrel!  So my phone is my enemy, because I can get on Facebook to update a group I run or add to an event and before I know it an hour has gone by and I haven't done what I went on to do. 

Knowing this about myself means I have to be intentional.  To get anything done, I must have lists and limits so that I can stay on track.  If I don't, the day will go by and nothing will have been accomplished.  If I need a vaca day then that is fine, but if my family wants to eat (aka, oops I forgot to add dinner to the crockpot or even defrost the meat), and I need to keep the internet on (aka, I forgot to pay the bills), I have to get my list done, not to mention the lists I have for my jobs and every other hat I wear (and yes, I know I do way too much, but baby steps is my pace in the better myself arena). 

Thankfully, when I focus, I can get a lot done.  I'm also great when things fall a part, I have a knack for just rolling with it and finding something that will work when a crisis takes over an event. 

The point is I must first:

1.  Know my kryptonite

Then I can:

2. Create a plan to combat it

And only then can I:

3. Slay the day :)

Do you have goals for your life or even day?  If not, get them because you are just wasting time, and if so are you doing what you need to do to accomplish them? 

Excuses are just that.  If you want to get er' done, you need a plan and that has be broken down into attainable steps.  But the plan will fall a part if you don't recognize your kryptonite and create a plan to overcome it.  Just accept that it is there and prepare yourself to knock it down or avoid it with  your patterns and plan. 

I don't know who is reading this, but I know you are a human being with a purpose.  Why not live life to the fullest?  That is what my Bible tells me Jesus came to give us - abundant life.  So what is stopping you?  The answer usually involves yourself and usually your kryptonite. 

I'd love to hear from you.  Comment, message me, and let me know if this is helping you.  I don't need to write just to have my words fill a page.  I want it to make a difference.  Is there something you would like to hear more about?  Tell me.  Introduce yourself.  I promise - I'm listening!  Happy Wednesday.  Decide what you want out of life and start your journey today.  If you already know, motivate and keep going.  God bless, my friends.  - Carrie

The Empty Swing

When I saw this photo on unsplash.com, I was filled with a surge of emotion that is inexplicable.  It took my heart to a topic that has found residence in me over the past few years.

Truth be told, until the day I birthed a child, I could have died any day and been fine with it.  I wasn’t suicidal or reckless, but I felt no inhibitions to chase after life.  While I do struggle with anxiety, I had a solid spiritual confidence with no fear of the end of life, and I was ready to meet my Savior if that time ever came.  I still hold that confidence, but when my son was born, I instantaneously felt a tether to this world like never before. 

 I love my step daughters but coming into their lives later in the game, and having been raised by their dad, I didn’t really feel they needed me, at least not like the helpless baby I held in my hands for the first time on January 26, 2011 at 9:02am.  It was a reason to live like nothing I had ever felt.  

Now, after birthing two kids, that calling to be here on earth, to walk the journey with them, is stronger than I have ever felt or imagined.  I am well aware I do not get a choice in the number of days I spend on earth.  That is a God decision and I must trust him no matter what.  But those are weighty words. Its one thing to say them (or write them as the case may be) and another to walk them.  The other side of this coin is the thought of losing one of my children.    

I’ve never held my own child, then felt the loss of that life.  I have experienced loss, in abortion, years of infertility and miscarriage.  Those loses were real and I still walk out some of the grieve of those occurrences today, but I cannot fathom the loss of a child who I have held and raised.  To know someone by name and to watch their personality dance before you each day, then be without them anymore, is something that hurts me in an empathetic place beyond explanation.  As a woman in ministry, I have walked with people who have had to live this tragedy in real life.

It is this emotion that fills my heart when I look at the empty swing.  I see what should have been, what was and is no more.  I see loss and grief staring at me through the absence of a child on the swing. It reminds me to pray for those who have experienced this pain.  It reminds me to treasure what I do have and to see the beauty in each day, even when marriage and motherhood seem tiring and mundane.  We only get one shot at this life and we must cherish it.  We never know what tomorrow holds, we are only given today. '

As I end this post, I wish to write some names that I remember, names of children who left us too early.

I remember...

Jaxson
Justin
David
Sydney
Lauren
Daniel
Tyler
Danielle
Tanner


"Lord, teach us to laugh, but don't let us forget we cried." - Bill Wilson

Curiosity Can Do More than Kill the Cat...

While the phrase “curiosity killed the cat” has its merits, I am afraid that curiosity has gotten a bad rap. Sure, we all yell at the girl in the horror movie not to go after the noise she hears, to run away from danger, and yes curiosity paired with stupidity will surely get anyone into trouble, but curiosity is a good thing. Wise curiosity allows us to know God, the world around us, and ourselves. I love the curiosity in children to get into things, take things apart and to delve into life with a sense of discovery. It’s a beautiful thing to behold and to experience and somewhere in those teen years we become more concerned with how we appear to others and we lose our curiosity at the expense of our reputation. We stifle our inquisitiveness to avoid wandering into a place that might be socially unacceptable. We stumble into curiosities, we never had ourselves, to appear cool to those around us. All that really does is waste precious time. Those years are precious. Curiosity will lead us to purpose and direction. Direction that will get us farther the earlier we find it. Like Austin Gutwein who was curious about those orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Zambia – wondering what it would be like without parents. His questions led him to compassion and to starting up a fundraiser that would change lives – all this at the age of 9. Hoops of Hope, his organization has raised $1 million and counting to build hospitals, schools and provide shelters for the children and people of Zambia. He put his curiosity to good use and allowed himself to seek to answer the question, “What is possible?” The answer was beyond his wildest dreams. The teen years are often seen as the selfish years, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Austin, now 13, is only one example of this principle. There are other examples of teens who have stepped outside of themselves to see what is possible. The great thing is – you could be next? What are you curious about? What could you do to change the world? How are you limiting the possibilities of what you could accomplish? What fears stand in your way? Maybe its time to let the cat out of the bag and seek after what we find curious in God’s word and in his world? What is stifling your curiosity? Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, ”Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’.” We only get one chance at life and while the going with the flow has its benefits in keeping us from negative emotions, it can also steal an abundant life from our existence. Get out there and live life to its fullest!