Learning How To Fight

Happy Friday Reader Friends! I took a little two week break from my Friday posts to do a little processing but here we are together again. And I like it! My heart has come to love our interchanges on Fridays. Wish I knew what was on your heart today, too. If you feel so bold, feel free to share in a comment or email or message.

How do Fridays find us so quickly? SO QUICKLY.

I've been pondering a truth recently and I wonder if you can relate?

There are times when turbulence hits our lives out of, seemingly, nowhere. Maybe it's a relationship that suddenly got tense, a job suddenly comes into question, a really bad day out of nowhere, the realization that none of your pants fit (don't underestimate the turbulence of ill-fitting clothes!!!), the loss of a pregnancy, unwanted news, or the list could go on. Bottom line, sometimes things can feel that they have turned upside down in one instant.

If you're anything like me, my first and very instinctual response is to DO SOMETHING. Like yesterday. Since I believe in Jesus, that often means that I feel the urge to pray up a storm. And if I could pray up a literal storm - all the better.

I don't think that's all wrong. I am a firm believer that He hears my prayers and interacts with me there. I am firm believer that He acts on my behalf. But - I've also come to the conclusion in my thirty two years that He and I have different definitions of good and bad at times. Yes? Yes. It would be so very nice if that weren't the case. If we both saw situations in the same light - what is good is good and what is bad is bad. Now certainly - our definitions line up a lot of the time - just not all of the time. And those 'just not all of the times' are the ones that can really hang us up.

So what's a girl to do in those moments of shift?

Fight, sister. Fight, brother.

You are to fight. You absolutely are to go to battle. The most violent tool I've come to know is the most opposite of my instincts:

Trust.

Trust. Trust. Trust. Trust. And then come back to trust. And from that place, I go, by His grace alone.

Trust is not a place of inactivity or victimization. Trust is more powerful than you could imagine. Trust and leaning into trusting Him declares to ALL that - there is nothing that can shake you from His love. Take it all away. Take the relationship away. Take the job away. But you will not take me away from trusting Him. I think that ultimately, the goal most often when the turbulence comes is to cause you to FEEL vulnerable, susceptible, or attacked. And those feelings breed fear. And it's really hard for trust and fear to live in the same house.

We are only humans though, I think you can agree. Perfection of response is not ever going to happen....unless you're just way different than I am. Which is entirely possible! LOL. But it's not that we will never feel fear. I simply want to open my heart to trust more than I open it to fear. Because trust comes from truth. Fear comes from one who has my worst intentions in mind, certainly not my best.

So yeah, you better believe I'm going to fight. But I'm going to fight from a place of trust instead of a place of fear. Fighting out of trust feels a whole lot different than fighting out of fear.

It's like taking a deep, cleansing breath. And that just feels so very much better than a lot of short shallow breaths.

Let's breathe deeply together because we can trust. You can trust and I can trust.

Happy Weekending Y'All!

Abi

2014: Choosing Important over Good

Well, my friends. Let's pretend we're having coffee together once more. I wish I could have a coffee date every day of the week - don't you?? I love everything about coffee dates - good conversations, cozy coffee shops, the rich smell of beans as they grind, the sound of steam pushing out of the espresso maker. Love it all.

Happy New Year!



I wonder how your 2014 has rolled out in these first ten days?! Mine has been surprising. Surprising. Good surprising but wild-ride-ish, too.

There is something about January that is sacred. It's a beautiful thing to have a fresh start and to sense a re-invigorated energy for purpose and vision.

The direction I've feel like is paramount for this year is "I want to choose do the important things over the good things."

Something tells me most anyone could relate to that. How full our lives can become with truly good things. With commitments that are meaningful to others and meaningful to ourselves! But what if we took a mini step back and breathed for a moment to say - "Now. Let's see what is important for me to do this year. Show me what is good but not important as I approach 2014."

Let me tell you right now, there are important things for you to do and lean in to this year. Take it to the bank. But there are countless good things that are not bad at all. In fact, they may be in the highly important category for someone else. But for you, good can suck up all of your energy so that when the important thing presents itself...there's nothing left to give.

Important isn't always big. It may be small and quiet, as a matter of fact. And your important may look confusing to someone else. But I think it will be worth it to choose the important over the good - in the end.

So onward 2014 Soldier! On to an important year! May you have the grace to see clearly and forgive yourself when you miss it a little (because no one gets it perfect).

Much love y'all and happy weekending!
Abi

Let's Go To Paris

Seriously. Let's go.

My house is in what I will lovingly refer to as 'recovery' from a truly wonderful Christmas and New Year. It's going to take me days to see it in to full recovery - so why not take a moment and go to Paris before I get back to it?

I have been to Paris once and it was three and a half years ago. I was skinnier. I wasn't a mama yet. And it absolutely swept me off my ever lovin hurtin feet. We got to do some traveling that I cherish before we had Liam. That's kind of where we spent our money instead of on nice cars or nicer than Gap clothing :). We WILL return to traveling before long - I'm thinking even with littles underfoot it would be worth it. Anywho, Paris sounds romantic but it took me off guard. The first few days were spent trying to acclimate to a new city that seemingly spread out with no end. But a few croissants later, I was hooked.

My mom tells a story of going to Paris on a high school trip and staying in a convent with nuns. Their breakfast each morning was french bread, butter and hot chocolate. Now listen - that's enough to make anyone fall in love and it's not far off from what I ate every single day I was there.

This afternoon, I craved Paris. So let's go! Here are some of my favorite memories from our trip a few years ago:

Our delightful bed and breakfast - check out La Villa Paris if you need a great place and a great price.

Our first adventure out - to the Marais - where we started to fall in love with the city:

The first of many risotto dishes we savored:

Notre Dame!

The back of Notre Dame with the gardens:

Are you surprised we tracked down espresso???

And check out that blue cheese. A few lunches consisted of blue cheese and French bread for me - happiness.

Shakespeare and Company bookstore! A treasure trove:

Let the love affair with French pastries begin:

After our first fun dinner in Paris in the Rue Cler:

One of my very favorite pictures of my husband, for reasons I can't put words to:

Glory:

He loves sculpture. Happy camper at Rodin's home/museum:

Let the love affair with French pastries continue:

So beautiful at night:

The Louvre. I crave a return visit.

Winged Victory, my favorite piece of art:

One of my favorite us pictures.

Love.

Love!

LOVE!!!!

Strolling the Seine.

Last evening in Paris, savoring the glow of Ile Saint Louis.

Wish I could make out in Paris with him RIGHT NOW!

I think this post was entirely self-indulgent LOL! I hope you got a little getaway too but if you didn't - thanks for baring with mine for a few moments! Now, back to the bedroom and piles of clothes. And back to that commitment to be in fighting shape for our tenth anniversary in 2015. I am hopeful that I will have had another baby by then and I will be ready to be SKINNY again. Praises.

Happy weekending y'all,
Abi