Unforced Rhythms of Grace

At the beginning of 2018 I set a goal to read 12 books and listen to 12 books.  I read and listened to many more than that.  Here are some of my favourites: The Obsession - Nora Roberts: I devoured this book while I was on vacation.  The story depicts a horrible coming of age for young Naomi as she learns her father's secrets.  As an adult the events still haunt her and of course, her nightmares start to become real. The Very Worst Missionary - Jamie Wright: Jamie's memoir about her experience as a missionary is honest, funny, and heart-breaking at the same time.  It opened my eyes to an 'industry' I didn't know anything about. Before We Were Yours - Lisa Wingate: I picked this one up on the recommendation from someone's list last year.  This book follows the story of children who were taken from their parents and basically 'sold' for adoption.  It is based on the real life scandal of the  Tennessee Children’s Home Society.   Th...

As a business graduate I know the value of specific goals.  If you have taken any course on goal setting you have heard the acronym SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, time based).  SMART goals are important in the business world.  They provide direction.  They make determining whether the team has met them is objective.  Motivational speakers apply the same principles to personal growth. It seems to work for a lot of folks.  For me, they can't be applied to personal growth without leaving me feeling overwhelmed and guilty when I don't meet them.  I am tired of judging myself against a specific goal.  I don't want to be numbers driven for my personal life. That doesn't mean I want to completely check out from thinking about direction for the next year.  Instead of resolutions or goals I refer to them as intentions.  Here are the ways I am thinking differently about intention than resolutions: 1.  It doesn'...

I have been thinking about re-starting my blog and I thought maybe I should re-brand, change the URL, start something new.  So I came back to this one. I read the description at the top. Have you ever met someone for whom kindness and faith seem natural? I know it may not actually be effortless for them, in fact I know it isn’t. But there is a difference between moving forward and pushing forward. I want to be the kind of woman who lives in unforced rhythms of grace. I am not there yet. Perhaps I never will be. My intent is to invite you along for that journey. Be forewarned that it will be a road with lots of bends and perhaps a little bit of traveling in reverse. I still want to emulate the people I know who show the Unforced Rhythms of Grace.  The articles I wrote are still true.  So what has kept me from writing for so long? For several years I have been posting sporadically, if at all, because I was trying to become someone I wasn't.  I was trying ...