( 2 weeks ago…)
It’s a cool Sunday evening, glass of wine in hand and a long list of summertime FAILS on my mind. Don’t get me wrong, this post isn’t about beating myself up ( Although, I must tell you I am REALLY REALLY good at it) but it’s really about our own agendas vs God’s for our lives. And I must tell you, don’t read this looking for an answer to finding out God’s agenda for your life, I don’t have an answer for mine.
Back in May I wrote a blog post about my summer Goals… let me ‘splain…no, there is too much, let me sum up…
1) Blog weekly. Well, Last post was July 21st and It’s Oct 9th now…and now as I finish this it’s Oct 18th. FAIL I also talked about learning more about Social Media, I’ve toyed a bit with pinterest lately, ditched tumbler and the new facebook… I’m not even gonna go there. But I did realize that no matter how much I try…writing is NOT my gift. SO I will continue my blog, but stop forcing deep thoughts.
2) Start Mosaic-ing again. HUGE FAIL, never even touched the stuff. BUT I have been painting like crazy. I think more than I ever had at one time. Lot’s of custom pieces for friends so far, and I have a whole bunch planned in my head. SO, the creative side of me has been fulfilled in the need to create again, just not in the way I expected it. Also, I did clear a space in the basement and put most of my art supplies there… but I haven’t used it. I paint at night mostly and have commandeered the back corner of my dining area as my “studio”. It also allows me to hang out with my hubby and watch all our DVR’d Pawn Stars together while I paint and he works on homework.
3) My Garden. This was actually fairly successful. I learned A LOT through some ammature mistakes, like planting things too close together, too early, and over / under watering. BUT we did have produce and we did enjoy having it and being able to go out and grab food from the yard from dinner, so overall this Goal gets a SUCCESS! ( YEAH!)
4) Saving Money. Well, this was going fairly well, but then we got really busy and with really busy gets tired and with tired gets lazy and with lazy gets convenience and convenience is expensive. We also started eating more of a vegan diet which was also REALLY expensive. So, yeah bit of a FAIL here too. Jason and I sat down together this week and poured over our finances, our weaknesses and strengths and looked at ways to save. A few minor changes, like I get the Passat now since I drive EVERYWHERE and he gets my 12 year old, gas guzzling Pathfinder with 220k miles on it since he only drives to work and back most days.
5) Ummmm…Oh wait, that was it! I think the overall theme for the summer was SIMPLIFY, and it really didn’t happen. It was more of a summer of change and re-prioritizing. I’m so thankful for God’s GRACE and His plan for my life. So as I put away the last pieces of my summer wardrobe, I look towards fall, the leaves are changing beautifully here and I’m enjoying the journey God is taking my family and I on.
SO while I was failing at the attempted goals, God was creating pathways to blessings and success! I’m pleased to announce
God opened a door for me this summer, big time. It started with a small request to photography my Pastor’s youngest… then another “hey I hear you take pictures…” Now it’s a business license, almost a website, a studio in my basement and 2 -3 sessions a week. I’ll be honest when I tell you I did not see this coming. Over the past 10 years I have tried several business opportunities for myself, but none have been really successful. Some because I wasn’t passionate enough to try, or the clientele wasn’t there for it to survive, either way, they didn’t happen. While I had majored in Art / Photography in college and done some portraiture in the past, it wasn’t something I had even thought of pursuing…. but here I am. Excited and a little nervous. There are times I think “what am I doing?” and I’m thankful that I have an AMAZING husband who supports me and believes in my art. The more I photograph, the more my passion for this art reignites. You will be seeing a lot less type and a lot more photos on this site, as I realize my expressive gift is through my eyes, not my words.
Fall Splendor…
mybeautifulcollision 