Coconut Bliss and other moments of joy

Highlights from today:

- Sitting in the dark back rows at church so I can be fidgety and not bug people.
- Getting my car washed while I'm in church. We are so spoiled in this freaking country.
- My caterpillar friend outside the front door that is now in a cocoon. Yay for b-flies!
- The strangers that I tried to give a ride to, but wouldn't get in my car.
- The power nap that made everything better.
- Feeling the crisp air on my face on my walk to the co-op. Fall is near. Hurray!
- The guy singing at the top of his lungs on his bicycle. OB rocks.
- Discovering AMAZING non-dairy ice cream made with coconut milk. Come to mama...

I heart Sundays.

Retail Therapy

(art by Banksy)

Did I write a blog about this yet? If I didn't then I certainly meant to. We live in a consumerist society makes me want to gag and I am as much a part of it as the next guy.

I met someone who said they gave up buying anything new for a year. They were on the last couple months of the year and said it had changed them. They, of course, could buy food and toiletries, but everything had to be a necessity. Otherwise, things should be borrowed, bartered or bought used. This challenged me.

I started researching the concept and found a ton of blogs, a lot of commentary and a new passion. I am making some changes in my life to think before I spend, to make do, and to create. I think that we live in such a fruitful country that so many of us forget the difference between want and need. I don't wish to straddle that line any longer. May He be glorified through our sacrifice, not by our consuming.

Letting it all hang out

Last weekend I had a chance to let it alllll hang out, so I had some friends over on Saturday to do just that.

We made art. We got messy. We unfolded. We spilled our hearts, emotions and creative juices all over the yard as we worked in the sun, sipping sangria and sharing laughs. It was a beautiful day of connecting and releasing. I believe God was glorified.

I'm so thankful for days like that. I'm thankful for days when my home is full of people that I can feed and take care of, people that are free to put their feet up and express themselves without constraint. I'm thankful for the days when I can draw closer to the Lord with paint under my fingernails and gesso in my hair. I'm thankful for the days when I can look across the table at 10 amazing people and remember how blessed I am to have community.

I'm feel like, even though this week was just as stressful and heavy as the last, I could breathe a little easier. I feel lighter. And for that I am just really thankful.