Last year was my "do" year. And baby, I DID. I said yes to a lot of things. Yes to a new job teaching piano lessons. Yes to a new church. Yes to writing and submitting a book proposal. Yes to a trip to Moldova. Yes to my first not-at-my-church speaking engagement. Yes to participating in two podcasts. It was a full year. But with all of those yeses, I let some things get away from me. My family has eaten way more pizza than is acceptable. I did not take care of my health or my house the way that I had intended. I allowed myself to become overwhelmed emotionally. I left some projects sitting that needed to be finished. This is how things tend to work for me. I throw myself into one thing (or five things) and I completely neglect others. Now I know that I can't do everything. … [Read more...]

I love blogging, but I don't always love all of the trappings of blogging. Which means that I don't generally participate in a lot of link-ups and blogging memes. So I was not planning on doing the One Word 365 thing. It seemed like another new year's resolution kind of deal and I just wasn't interested. Who needs another thing to fail at, right? But I'm a little bit of a sucker for peer pressure, and seeing one blogging friend after another talk about how their one word had changed their lives in 2011, I started thinking that maybe it was something a bit more than just a glorified resolution. As I was mulling over participation, I was in the midst of having some conversations with some online friends. Discussions about how much we'd like to meet and how it would be cool if we … [Read more...]

I haven't done an update on my "do" year in a while, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to let you know what's been going on. (Feel free to click on any pics to embiggen them.) I had the chance to attend the Sacred Friendship Gathering and meet some amazing people.   This summer has been nice and busy for my band.   We had a lovely family vacation.   While on vacation, I had the chance to lunch with Rachel Held Evans:   A couple of writing projects:   What have you "do"ing this year? If you're doing the One Word, how are things coming with your word? … [Read more...]

This year is already nearly a quarter over and I realized that I hadn't updated on my one word. I chose "do" as my word to shape 2012, and it's been interesting to keep that in mind as I go about my days.I would say that thus far, I have had mixed results.In the arena of personal health, I got back to running. I kind of slacked off during the first part of the school year, only getting out on the rare occasion to put feet to the pavement. I joined a local fitness center so that my whining about outside conditions can be thwarted as soon as they pop into my brain.I have not been nearly as justice minded as I feel that I should be. There are places where I need to become more personally involved. Donating money is good, but I feel like I need to be getting my hands in the mix a bit more. … [Read more...]

I talk. All the time.I plan. I discuss. I pontificate.That's all well and good. I can't change who I am and really, I'm not interested in doing that.But I want to be more than a talker. I want to put more action behind those words.I don't want to just talk about writing a book proposal, I want to write it.I don't want to just talk about meeting folks in the virtual village, I want to go visit with them.I don't want to just talk about helping the poor, I want to spend time at the soup kitchen.I'm going to keep talking, but this year there's going to be more.This year I'm going to DO."Knowing is not enough; we must apply.Willing is not enough; we must DO."(This quote was attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,Leonardo da Vinci, and Bruce Lee.Take your pick.)++++++++++++I'm linking up with … [Read more...]