Sunday, February 24, 2019

Things I've Learned: February 2019 Issue

For some reason I cannot pin down, I've been on a break from posting on my blog and Instagram. I felt a bit of a need to hibernate from words and posting. So I did. And it's okay. I have still made art though.

My word for 2019 is sacred. I chose that word because there are some areas in my life that need a renewed dedication to being used for God's purposes. As Christ's followers our calling is to live for Him in every way in every area of our life. Our life is then a journey toward living out Christ's life in us. It's a life long process. We don't change instantly and over time the transformation goes deeper and deeper.



Every year for the past four - five years I have had some type of health goal connected with my word of the year - eat better and exercise more make the list each year. But honestly, I haven't progressed far in either of those areas. A number of injuries with our parents this past year have motivated us to make some changes now and get healthy for the future. So I started this year with a different mindset and decided to study how God views our bodies in the Bible. 

Eight weeks into the new year, here are a few things I've learned so far:


  • Changing habits is proving to be less difficult then I thought it would be. I think discovering more deeply how God views our bodies and health is changing how I view my relationship with food. Prayer has helped a lot as well. 

  • Lots of little changes made consistently add up to big change. Last month I took The Little Way challenge, an online health challenge based on faith by Revelation Wellness. It gave me a good foundation for making little changes in how I eat and move. A big mindset shift was looking at food as substance or shadow foods. Shadow foods don't contribute anything nutritionally to your body and are empty calories.

  • Cooking has always been a necessary chore for me...like doing laundry. It just has to be done! But, as we have made theses health changes I have enjoyed finding recipes to make our favorite foods healthier. I'm actually enjoying cooking!

  • Last month I wrote about how I have discovered that making journals is a big part of sparking creativity for me (see this post). The problem is, I don't often fill them. So January's monthly journal is half full. I have been dedicated to rectifying that in February.




  • I cannot paint objects, but I did find I can make them with scissors and painted paper! I have been studying the pages of a book called Cut Paper Pictures by Clover Robin. I follower her on Instagram and love what she does with cut paper collage. So I am practicing with guidance from her book.

  • I still love the thrill of the hunt. I visited some book sales and estate sales in January and February. I was leafing through the pages of the recent Flea Market Home & Living magazine and ran across this great display of bird art. Turns out the art is pages from a book I had recently found and listed in my Etsy shop. I love finding creative ways people reuse, recycle and repurpose items!

That's it for my discoveries so far this year. I'll end with the most recent pages from my word of the year journal. In our Living Your Word 2019 group we are discovering words from A-Z that inspire us to live out our word of the year.






What have you learned lately? Feel free to share in the comments below. :)





Join Our Inspirational Facebook Group: Living Your Word of the Year
Bernice Hopper, Valerie Sjodin and I facilitate a Facebook group about Living your Word of the Year. In it we share insights through blog posts and connect with other like-hearted and like-minded people who want to live out a word focus throughout the year. We offer participants a bi-weekly A-Z Inspiration to help prompt reflection and creativity. as well as other inspirational ways to connect with your word of the year. If you would like to connect with others in creative ways about living your word throughout the year, explore new ideas, record thoughts, prayers, and events, you are invited to join our Facebook group.

Please use #livingyourword2019 on social media.

Check out the other blogs:
Bernice: www.newlycreative.com
Valerie: 
www.valeriesjodin.com/blog