the mother's day gift that has rocked my world

the flowers are long gone.

the chocolate still lives on...on my hips.

the cards, probably in a landfill keepsake box somewhere.
the one gift I'm still savoring 4 months later...

this book

One Thousand Gifts
a book that dares you
"to live FULLY right where you are".

right where I am?
a stay-at-home, homeschooling,
toddler chasing, teenager embracing mom
& wife to a very busy super hero?!

this read is a life-changer, for sure.
one chapter in particular has been read
and re-read, underlined, and sprinkled with
some grace-cleansing tears.
you see, one of my life-long struggles,
my "f" word, if you will, has been
fear.

here are some of the quotes that
I've been chewing on the past few months.
it's as if the author's been reading my mail,
so to speak...


"Anxiety has been my natural posture,
 my default stiffness...
How I refuse to relinquish worry, an identity.
Do I hold worry close as this ruse of control,
this pretense that I'm the one who will determine
the course of events as I stir and churn and ruminate.
Worry is the facade of taking action
when prayer really is."


"Fear keeps life small.
Stress isn't only a joy stealer.
The way we respond to it can be sin."


"Trust, it's the antithesis of stress.
I can't fill with joy until I learn how to trust.
Romans 15:13
'May the God of all hope
fill you with all joy and peace
as you learn to TRUST in Him.' "


"Stress brings no joy."

wow-weee
that's Truth.
Truth that can set me free
from allowing fear to keep
parts of my life "small".
Truth with a capital "T"
is Jesus, and His perfect love
is promised to cast out fear.

yuck
I'm so done with that word.