Thankful Thursday // 9

After Thanksgiving, it's so easy to stop purposely being thankful and focus on the new beginnings that are just around the corner, but the turn of the year is the perfect time to be thankful for what God has done over the past year rather than thinking about how you've failed.

It's been a while sine I've posted one of these, so I'll be catching up for the next few weeks.

111. My church's college and career group.

112. Childhood friends.

113. Sending people letters and care packages.

114. My church family.

115. The love my family shares.

116. Occasionally having the house to myself and enjoying the quiet.

117. The enthusiasm for life that my little sisters have.

118. The vast creative abilities God has given to us.

119. Having the opportunity to minister to children through Good News Club, an after school Bible club, since some of the children that come would not otherwise know about the gospel message.

120. The doors opened and walls broken down while sharing a meal.

121. Laughter around the dinner table.

122. Friends you know you can count on, even if you don't get to see them very often.

123. Local restaurants where everyone knows everyone else.

124. My parents who are constantly pouring out love on everyone around them.

125. New crafting supplies.

Delight and Be Intentional

I've never been good at New Year's posts. I love beginning a brand new year, but I struggle with how to articulate my thoughts about it. Other people have all these beautiful words and thoughts that they post, but I'm just here, enjoying the chance to set new goals and challenge myself.

In the past, I've done various things at the beginning of the year. I've written a list of 50 things I want to accomplish. I've set goals. I've cleaned out my belongings. But over the past few years, I've seen many people choose to focus on a word and all that it means instead of setting a list of resolutions. This year, after Kristin Wall over at Delight & Be challenged us who are in the Facebook group to pray and ask God to show us what word/character attribute He wanted us to grow this year.

After a lot of thought, I chose the word

intentional.

This means spending my time wisely. I must check my mindless social media scrolling and tv show watchng. I want to start my days by spending time with God, not on my phone. I want my relationships with my family and friends to be more intentional; instead of settling for shallow conversations I will purposely spend time cultivating the relationship and really getting to know people. I will cultivate my mind outside of required schoolwork by learning new skills and reading a wider variety of books.

I have already been convicted of not being intentional with my time this year. My hope and prayer this year is to grow as a person, not just check things off a list. That being said, I will be setting a list of goals every month to help me focus on areas of my life and then, at the end of the month, I can see where I have wasted time rather than intentionally working on my goals.

p.s. One of my goals for this month was to launch a knitting/fiber blog connected to my Etsy shop, and I finally did it! You can check it out here.

Thou Who Changest Not

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim, it's shadows fade away.
Change and decay in all around I see.
Oh, Thou who changest not,
Abide with me.

The truth is, the world is constantly changing, and there is nothing any of us can do to stop that. There are times in my life when it feels as if everything is changing all at once, and it is in those times that my prayer follows along with the lyrics of the old hymn "Abide with me": "Oh, Thou who changest not, abide with me". God is the only One who does not, and will never, change. As this new year dawns and brings a whole new set of challenges, changes, and growth, remember to place your faith in God, not in your own resolutions or goals, as good as they may be.

It's the little things

Little moments pile up every day, and it's so easy to miss them. I'm trying to be more intentional about using my camera to capture some of those moments. As I look through my pictures from the past couple of months, they bring back memories of my little sister drawing pictures for other people and playing with the toys I used to play with. There are images of soccer games and church events. Those are the little things that matter, even though they seem small. It's when we bring glory to God through the little things that we are practicing a life of godliness. When the big events come along, we'll be far more ready to glorify and serve Him if we're in the habit of doing so in the day-to-day business of life.

Crashing

Back in August, I had all these grand ideas about what the school year would look like. I would dedicate a lot of time to my Etsy shop, blog consistently, spend time with people, all while staying on top of my schoolwork and working 25 hours a week. I even planned to do the "Write 31" challenge in October which is where you pick a topic and blog about it every day in October.

But then all of my grand plans came crashing down around me. My courseload took a lot more time than I thought it would. Working at 3:00 am three days completely consumes those days, even though I get out by 12. I haven't blogged in over a month. I haven't added many items to my Etsy shop.

For the past month, I've been gradually feeling more overwhelmed with everything I have to do. Some days I just don't get much crossed off my to-do list. Some days end in tears.

But I keep reminding myself that this is the phase of life I am in. Life will always be crazy, I know, but it won't be like this forever. I need to apply myself and give everything I have to where I am now rather than hoping for it all to pass away. God has me here for a reason, teaching me that not everything goes my way and I can't control everything in my life. 

Friday Favorites // 6

This week has finally felt like fall. Earlier this week, it was so chilly I even pulled out my handknit socks for the first time this season. I wish fall could just stay forever.

Do you ever find that you music preferences change with the seasons? During the summer I listen to more upbeat, acoustic music, but once the cooler months roll around I listen to a lot of Michael Buble, Josh Groban, and Andrea Bocelli. You can listen to a few of my favorites in this playlist.

// This week I finally purchased some tea from Winterwoods Tea Co. They make organic, loose leaf teas, and the flavors I have tried are amazing. //

// I love fandom-related yarns, and I'm not the only one. How about this yarn called Vincent and the Doctor? Or "Little, Big Blue Box? Or, if Austen is more your thing, why not buy some Lizzy and Darcy yarn? //

// And while I'm on the subject...how about this adorable Doctor Who yarn bowl? //

// I'm a big fan of peanut butter, so this poster is so accurate. //

// I've been wanting to learn the entrelac knitting technique, and this tutorial makes it look fairly simple. //

// If you're into crafting or artsy things, you need to check out Creative Bug. For $5 a month, you have unlimited access to so many different crafting and art classes, and you can download one a month to keep for life. I'm so excited to watch some of the classes. //

What have you been loving this week? What are some of your favorite things about fall?

Thankful Thursday // 8

101. A new camera which will allow me to better capture life's little (and big) moments.

102. Discovering new musicians.

103. The way that food can bring people together.

104. God's strength and patience, the only things that keep my mouth closed rather than lashing out.

105. Encouraging words.

106. Beautiful quotes which put into words the things I feel but cannot express.

107. My church family. I love being able to talk to people from several different generations within the span of ten minutes.

108. Desperately needed rain.

109. The quiet of early mornings.

110. Hot chocolate.

What are you thankful for this week?