Liebster Award Nomination

It’s always encouraging when someone appreciates what you’re doing, and sometimes that appreciation comes in a special form. I’m honoured to announce that fellow blogger Tammy from faithhopelovefood has nominated me for the Liebster Award. I have less than 3000 followers which makes me eligible for this award.

The Liebster Award

The Liebster Award is given by bloggers to fellow bloggers in order to support and encourage them in their blogging. The guidelines for receiving the award varies, however, the general rules are as follows:

Post your award to your blog in a blog post
Answer the 10 questions that were given to you by the fellow blogger who nominated you
Nominate 3-10 other bloggers you have discovered with less than 3,000 followers
Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer

Here are my answers to the questions I was given:

Who has been most influential in your decision to write? It may sound clichéd but it has to be God. He just won’t let me off the hook. Even when writing feels too scary or too hard, he keeps gently nudging me to persevere. Encouragement from good friends and family that I have something worthwhile to say, also helps tremendously.
What led you to choose the focus of your blog? Reading John Ortberg’s book The Me I Want to Be. He writes about flourishing and that really resonated with me.
Where do you find your inspiration for your blog posts? It’s really a mixture of my own experiences and observations, thinking about something I’ve read or seen, and the occasional insight that’s like a light-bulb moment. Sometimes I have no idea what I’m going to say or what I think until I’ve written it. I’m learning to just keep writing, whether I’m feeling inspired or not.
Who is your favourite author? Tough question. Since I have to choose, I’ll say that it’s currently Emily P. Freeman. I’ve been reading her blog and books for several years now, and I appreciate her perspectives and insights. Sometimes it feels like she’s holding up a mirror in which I see myself.
What are your writing aspirations? To be a better, more consistent blogger for a start. To walk beside people as they explore their own faith journey. Whether my writing will extend beyond blogging is part of the journey of discovery.
What is your favourite scripture or quote? Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
What does a perfect day look like for you? Spending time enjoying nature, reading a good book, journaling in one of my favourite cafes, watching a good movie, getting a massage, enjoying good food with good friends and family. Hmm, I might need a week.
Coffee, tea or neither? I’m a hot chocolate girl. However I am partial to an iced coffee or an iced tea. Go figure.
Favourite childhood memory. There are many, but one is picking wild blackberries in summer. I’m sure we ate far more than we brought home.
Advice you would give to someone who wants to be a writer. Some good advice that was given to me: be prepared to keep working on your craft. Keep learning and improving your writing skills. On the flip side, don’t wait until your writing is perfect before you release it into the world, because that day will never come, and there are people waiting to read your words.

The blogs I’m nominating are:

Charis at Charis: Subject to Change
Alicia at Alicia’s Roses: Renewal, restoration, refreshment, rest
Judi at It’s not really about me… …it’s about a creative journey of faith

And here are my questions for them:

What does writing / blogging mean to you?
What’s a significant lesson you’ve learned from life experience?
What’s your favourite way of being with God?
What are you thankful for?
In what ways has God blessed you this year?
What books, films or music have impacted you, and how?
What is you favourite place to just be?
What advice would you give to someone asking you how to flourish?
Do you have a favourite topic or theme that keeps showing up in your life or your writing?
How do you integrate rest into your rhythm of daily life, and what does that look like for you?

Finding my rhythm

We were chatting about morning routines, and the things that are essential at the start of the day. One friend’s family members have learned not to ask any questions or expect any help from her before she’s had her first coffee. They know she’s not really conscious until she’s had coffee.

I don’t really have much in the way of consistent daily or weekly routines. You may have noticed that since I’m so sporadic with my writing and posts on Flourish! Having a routine seems somehow kind of boring, static and inflexible, as if that would characterise me if I kept to a routine. Computer programs have routines. (My apologies to those of you who function well precisely because you do have a routine.)

So, because words affect how I think and feel about something, and therefore how I act, I’ve been thinking that perhaps I need a different word.

Not so much a routine, as a rhythm, like a piece of music, a dance or a poem.

In her book, A million little ways^⁠1, Emily P. Freeman explains how the words workmanship or masterpiece are often used to translate the Greek word poiema in Ephesians 2:10, and that our English word poem has its origins in this word poiema.

If I am a living poem, what might the rhythm of my life look like?

I like the idea of rhythm; pattern, flow, tempo. It feels more life-giving than routine.

There’s a lot to think about there, but I want to start here with you, with this blog. I want to experiment with establishing a rhythm to my offerings at Flourish!

Here are a few ideas I’m tossing about at present. I’d like to know if they resonate with you, or just make you feel like you’re travelling on a corrugated dirt road in a car with a dodgy suspension.

Monthly Musings – thoughts on what I’ve discovered, experienced, learned in the last month
OneWord365 – regular posts on my one word for this year (which is “trust” in case you were wondering)
The Book Tour – thoughts / notes from the books I’m reading (monthly?)
Themed series – and yes, I will get back to the series on Waiting.

If you have any ideas about what you’d like to see on Flourish! in 2015, I’m all ears. Join the conversation in the Comments section.

¹Emily P. Freeman, A million little ways: uncover the art you were made to live (Grand Rapids: Revell, 2013), 25.

Image source: morguefile.com

Merry Christmas

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas, and may peace and joy be yours today.

The Joy of Swinging

Swinging is a simple pleasure. The joy of flying through the air, the thrill of seeing how high you can reach. Children love swings. It’s the first thing my niece wants to do when she goes to the park. And if we’re honest, and we can find a swing big enough to hold us, adults still love swings too.

I was walking past some playground equipment in a local park this morning. There were climbing frames, swings, Super Swings, and then – by far the coolest thing in the park – The Liberty Swing!

I’d never seen one before, but the Liberty Swing is specially designed for people in wheelchairs or with other disabilities that don’t allow them to use a conventional swing. How cool is that?! The pure joy of swinging, available to people who previously could only watch someone else experience that joy.

A sign on the fence explained that the Liberty Swing is an Australian innovation, designed by Wayne Devine. It “allows wheelchair-bound children and adults the opportunity to experience the joy and freedom of having a swing in the park.”

I love that.

And what a great name.

Liberty – the definition includes the freedom from restriction and hampering conditions, from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint; and the power of doing something according to choice.

How precious are the simple joys in life – they shouldn’t ever be taken for granted. But more importantly for me, the Liberty Swing reminds me to embrace joy, even in circumstances which may not be of my choosing.

Life brings all kinds of difficulties, challenges, frustrations, pain and grief, but no matter what, we can still choose joy.

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk 3:17-28

A Valentine from the Lover of my soul

“I hate Valentine’s Day!”

I said that – recently. But it’s not really that I hate the day, just that I don’t like being reminded everywhere I turn that other people are in love when I am not.

But this Valentine’s Day is different. Today I chose to see the gifts that are already mine; to live with joy. Today may not be a day of roses, greeting card sentiments, or romantic dinners, but I have enjoyed the gifts from the Lover of my soul.