Thankful Tuesdays!

I know I already blogged once today but 2 is better than 1 right?? I recently started reading Ann Voskamp's book "ONE THOUSAND GIFTS" If you havent heard of it or want some more info on it, check out http://onethousandgifts.com/. In her book Ann dares you to live fully right where you are and discusses what it means to be deeply human, deeply spiritual, deeply and authentically fulfilled. It is a beautifully practical guide to living a life of joy and invites you to wake up to God's everyday blessings. We all want to be happy, we all want our lives filled with great moments and experiences but most of us are looking too hard. Its right in front of us, every moment has the potential to be beautiful and memorable. We just need to open our eyes. To see the beauty in the simpliest of things, to appreciate what we have, who we have and where we are in life. This life is a precious gift and when we take the time to see the beauty in everything around us we stop looking for more and learn to love where we are and the beauty that surrounds us. A great way to do this is to keep a "Thankful  Journal"....make lists of the wonderful things we have, the people around us and the great moments we have together. Take time to stop and really think about what makes us smile. Get out a piece and paper and jot down things you love, things you appreciate and things you take for granted. It really does make a difference, once you do this you will begin to see things differently, and you will really learn to appreciate the great gifts we already have around us. God is wonderful and he has given us all we need already, it is all there for us and we dont need more. Every Tuesday I will share my list with you, I hope you will join me and share your list with me, lets see how long it takes us to get to "One Thousand Gifts"

1.the ability to write, and share my ideas
2.good morning kisses from my husband
3. the smell of fall and the sound of the breeze in the leaves
4. peaceful quiet time to reflect and refresh
5.cuddles with Bailey
6 my health
7. encouraging words from a friend
8. the sound of laughter

I hope this encourages you and I hope you will share what you are thankful for this week. I am thankful that you spent some time reading my blog. Have a blessed day!

Blessings
Heather

The Courage to be You

It takes courage to be YOU. Too seldom are we ourselves and we become who others want us to be to fit in. We pass ourselves off as mirror images of those around us instead of being true to who we really are.

Inconsistency between the inside and the person we present to the world creates tremendous conflicts in our lives. The Oxford dictionary defines being authentic as being true to your own character. Have you ever found yourself laughing because everyone else did or agreed with an opinion that you didn’t share? Did you ever do something inconsistent with your true self just to please, get attention or get what you wanted? Of course we all have.We have all done and said things to fit in but that gives people the wrong impression of who we really are, and then along the way some of us actually lose who we are and become just another face in the crowd.

When you were born there was nothing you had to do to be loved. Back then you were unpretentious and spontaneous. You smiled when you felt like it and cried when you were upset. You had the courage to be you. Then the agenda changed. You were taught how to behave, what to say and what to want.

Conditioned by our environment we become products of our culture. Social influences tell us we are not slim enough, not rich enough, not with it enough and probably out of it altogether. We never quite cut it. Compelled to portray a better us, we hide our true self. When we are not real we cannot connect to our inner core or to others. What we do, including our interactions with others, becomes meaningless, because our true self doesn’t show up. This is important and here is why:

Your authentic self is your talents, values, traits and greatness combined. It is the best of you! It is like a sleeping giant buried under all the shoulds and shouldn’ts. All you need is the courage to be you. Think about this: when we meet people who are refreshingly authentic, we are drawn to them. They say and do the things we never would. They have the courage to be real and we instantly like them. They give us the straight goods and we always know where we stand. They don’t care what others think or do. They do their own thing in alignment with their authentic self. The have the courage to be themselves. We want to be in their presence because the interaction has meaning.

Here are some tips on becoming authentic:

• Be courageous and bold
• Say what you mean and mean what you say
• Trust your instinct
• Focus on the best in you
• Speak up for yourself
• Stand up for what you believe in
• Always speak the truth
• Don’t be a pleaser, you are able to say no
• Don’t worry about what others think
• Become who you want to be

If you are afraid of doing all of the above, feel the fear and do it anyway! To be authentic, just focus on your talents, strength, values and integrity. Building upon your best gives you authentic power. This power feeds your soul.

Nothing changes in your life until you use the best of you. Nothing changes in your relationships until you become better for each other. When you focus on the best of you, you can also see the good in others. Only when you use your best can you play your best cards in life. Living an authentic life means never having to regret anything. This is powerful! Then when we have taken the courage to be ourselves, we can stand up for what we believe in, we can stand for those who have less and take care of those who cant take care of themselves. When we do whats right for ourslves it opens a whole new world for ourselves and others around us. Find your passion, stand up for what you believe in and be true to yourself. Have the courage to be YOU.

Make you Home a Haven Challenge

Home is where the heart is. Making your home a special place takes time and thought. It takes effort, but it is so worth it. You and your family deserve a place where you can relax, re-engergize and come together. The home is central to all that you do. Its a gathering place for your family and friends, where you will make memories that last a lifetime. So take time to make it an inviting place for everyone. This fall I am taking the Make your Home a Haven Challenge with Courtney over at http://womenlivingwell.org/. The link to the challenge is http://womenlivingwell.org/2011/09/making-your-home-a-haven-fall-challenge-is-back/. I hope you can join me in taking this challenge. If you want more info let me know.

1John Bible Study!

I am so excited! Today is day one of the 1 John Bible study at http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/. I am linked up with a group of girls on facebook and we are doing the study together! We are following the SOAP method, which means we write out the Scripture, our Observations, what our Applications are for our life and a Prayer. I have my notebook already, my pages printed off from study guide and I pray that God will open his Word to me. If you want some more info on this study just let me know and I will hook you up. I will be posting some updates on what I am learning probably once a week!

Weekend Getaway!

This past weekend my husband Carl and I took a trip to Saint Andrews NB with our friend Angie. We had a blast. It was a simple overnight trip. We drove down and first went Minister's Island. You can only get to the island during low tide, you drive across the ocean floor. It was once owned by William Van Horne, he was president of the Canadian Pacific Railway and oversaw the building of the Canadian transcontinental Railway. It was his "summer cottage".

The name of this beautiful "cottage" is Covenhoven. Now the government owns it and its a historic site that the public can visit. Here are a couple more pics of the inside:

After we left the island we drove to one of our favorite spots and had a picnic, then did some shopping including at the Kandy Korner which is a must when you go to Saint Andrews. We then headed to the Tidal Zone B&B to rest before we went out for supper.

We went out for supper that evening to one of our favorite restuarants in Saint Andrews called the Harbour Front, we had fish and chips. Went back to the B&B, had some wine, snacks and some fun siting on the deck enjoying the breeze off the harbour and  playing cards. Before bed it was a relaxing bath in the jacuzzi tub. We were treated to a beautiful breakfast the next morning by Sue, the owner of the B&B. We had homemade zucchini raspberry muffins, fruit salad and a hot egg bake. We have been going to the B&B since our honeymoon and always have a relaxing stay. Off we went whale watching, we went on the Island Quest, and we had a great time, we saw whales, porpoise, eagles, and a tuna! We got to see some beautiful scenery, enjoyed some smoked salmon pate and got a wind burn. Here are a few pics from the whale watching trip:

We finished our trip with a lovely lunch at the Red Herring Pub and one more stop at the candy store. It was a great overnight trip. Not because we stayed at a nice place or went whale watching, it was because of the company, the laughs and now the great memories.

Blessings

Heather

RESPECT

Good day everyone! Its a beautiful sunny day here in Fredericton. Yesterday I mentioned I was starting the Respect Dare and I promised some information about it. First lets define what respect means: the dictionary defines it as "to hold in esteem, or to honor, to show regard or consideration for". Isnt that something we all crave and need?  We all want to to be held in esteem, we all want people to show us consideration whether is for our feelings or for our accomplishments. Men epecially want to be shown respect.  It is ingrained in men to serve and protect. Its in their genes, and they want to know someone notices a job well done. Women are complicated, men are simple and I dont mean that in a derogatory way to either gender. We are wired differently, we were made to compliment each other and its ok! Men have feelings, and their manly egos get hurt when they feel like they are not providing for their families or when they fail at something, and when they feel like they are not being respected. In these times its all about equality, that women deserve as much respect as men and there is nothing wrong with that, women work hard too and they deserve respect for their accomplishments too. I believe everyone deserves Respect. Whether its your spouse, you mother, sister, neighbor, local politician, someone of a different religion or color. We are all human beings and we all deserve to be treated with dignity no matter our differences. Its what makes us all special.

The Respect Dare is about showing respect to your husband. It says in Ephesians 5:33b of the Bible that "and the wife should respect her husband". The 2 most important parts of a marriage in my opinion are Love and Respect. A marriage is a mirror to all other relationships in our lives and if we cant learn to love and respect our spouse, we cant show those to any other human being.

Respect for someone should come easy but it doesnt. Just like showing our love  sometimes falls by the wayside with our busy lives. Sometimes we need a reminder or a lesson to help us grow. The Respect Dare is a book written by Nina Roesner and The Respect Dare is a forty-day devotional guide that will take away the mystery that is keeping you from speaking the language of respect with your husband. It provides real life examples from women who have developed closer relationships with God and their husbands.


The 40 day Respect Dare Challenge comes from both Nina's book and Dr Emerson Eggerichs book “Love and Respect”
According to "love and Respect", there are 6 areas where your husband needs your respect; Dr. Eggerichs uses the word C.H.A.I.R.S. to help us remember them. The assignments in the challenge have been broken up  so that each week we will try and demonstrate respect in each of the 6 areas.

They are:

Conquest – Appreciate His desire to work and achieve

Hierarchy- Appreciate His desire to protect and provide

Authority- Appreciate his desire to serve and to lead

Insight – Appreciate his desire to analyze and counsel

Relationship- Appreciate his desire for shoulder to shoulder friendship

Sexuality- Appreciate his desire for sexual intimacy

We have just completed day 1 and here is what the dare includes so you can get a taste of what it involves:
The Respect Test~Day 1
Write down 3 things that you honestly and truthfully respect about your husband. (If you are having trouble, remember that he was created in God’s image.)
Find a quiet moment with your husband later that day and say the following:
“I was thinking about you today and about some of the things that I respect about you, and I just wanted to make sure that you know that I respect you.”
After completing the sentence walk out of the room. Resist the urge to say more unless he comes after you, call you back and invites you to say more.
If he does ask you “what things” make sure you are ready to tell him without having to go and look at your piece of paper.



I am doing the Respect Dare by following along with a wonderful group of ladies on facebook, we are only on day 2 so it wont be hard to catch up, if you are interested in following along, or if you want anymore resources let me know, I would be happy to hook you up! I am a total believer in showing respect to your spouse, and I cant wait to see how these challenges change and strengthen my own marriage.

Blessings,
Heather

Relaunching This Blog

Good day everyone. Sorry I have been a little lacks in my blogging lately. Its been a busy summer. But today is a new day and I am pleased to be relaunching this blog! Today I woke up feeling alive and renewed, full of energy, pumped up ad ready to take on some new challenges. Its a new day and a new month. A perfect time to start something new, take on those new challenges or make some changes. So today I am relaunching this blog, starting the Respect Dare(more info coming tomorrow if your interested) I am getting ready to start a new Bible study, getting my baking baking price list ready for the fall. I have been busy pickling, gather recipes and baking since the weather has cooled down enough to turn the oven on! I am excited about new prospects for the future. Excited about our trip this weekend to our favorite place- Saint Andrews( I will share some pics and details next week when we get back) and just excited about life in general. Life is Great!

I read this passage this morning and it really inspired me and I would like to share it with you:

Greeting the day. Most of us have forgotten how to greet the day. The knowledge is all but lost to us that a new day is sacred: a gift from God, a rare and precious gift. A new day brings with it the opportunity to stat all over, to raise one's head from the pillow and with a glad heart to watch the clouds roll across the dark sky now diffusing pink, and to breathe that child prayer of gratitude,"Oh God, life again, Again, one more day of life". We must relearn how to stand in awe, how to face for a moment the eastern sky, with praise and thanksgiving and allow our hearts to be filled with a corresponding inner daybreak of adoration. We must learn to not ever take for granted-no matter how pain filled our life- that we are alive and the earth still turns on its axis, that evil has not wobbled the course of the earth while we slept: and that we must understand this sacremental symbol, this reenactment of life which come resurrecting every twenty four hours. Celebrating each new day helps us develop the ability to be grateful for all the new moments and for the God who is in each of those moments. The discipline of celebrating each new day influences our attitude toward all of life. A new day signifies: The Lord of mornings is still sovereign over the world.   Karen Burton Mains

I hope this passage inspires you like it did me. I hope each of you joins me in celebrating each new day, and the wonders it brings. I hope it inspires you to be grateful for each moment you are given and to live it to the fullest, because it it really the most precious gift we are given. I look forward to relaunching this blog and I hope it and I can be of some inspiration to you.

Till tomorrow

Blessings,

Heather