TOPICS IN THIS BLOG POST:
1 MY ONE WORD FOR 2014 AND 2015
2 MY WRITING
3 ANOTHER CHALLENGE FOR MYSELF: NANOWRIMO 2014
4 MY REFLECTION (AND ANALYZING) OF COUNTING MY BLESSINGS FROM NOVEMBER 2013 TO NOVEMBER 29, 2014
5 MY WRITING: THE METAMORPHOSIS
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MY ONE WORD FOR 2014 AND 2015
Written 2014-11-29 13:49:26, Saturday
ONE WORD
One Word is a word you choose to focus on for an entire year to focus your life, who you want to be, what you want to accomplish, and in an effort to increase your faith and bring you closer to the Lord and His Word, the Holy Bible.
It is meant to help us to get focus off of self and put back where our focus should remain: on God and the Bible.
One Word is meant to be about character and how we want to live a life of a strong, growing, abundant, and sustainable faith.
One Word is not about doing.
It is not about focus on things or others.
It is shifting focus of our every effort, thought, behavior, feeling, dream/vision, situation, relationship, to Jesus Christ and the Bible. This is the underlying reason to decide on one word to focus everything on for an entire year.
One Word is the word God reveals to us. It is not what we want it to be or hope it would be. It is what God wants us to focus on. And, if God issues us a challenge, it is harder than we can imagine and it takes God to help us accomplish the feat because it is not anything we could accomplish on our own.
MY ONE WORD LIFE
Several years ago, I learned how to focus on one word for my year. The one word is so I can increase my faith and grow closer to the Lord. This is the main purpose. It gives laser-point focus for what I want to do, how I want to live, and my focus for the year. It lets me know what to focus on and what to let go because it does not fit into my one word.
Give it a try. It is a really useful too, particularly when it is focused on every day all year long. It is not particularly helpful or meaningful if it is forgotten (as I have learned several times over).
My one word for 2014 was BLESSING.
I may have counted one thousand two hundred thirty-eight blessings so far, in just November 2014 alone, but it does not mean I focused on this One Word for all of 2014. Sadly. Needless to say, I have learned a great deal of what to do and what not to do that I hope to apply to next year.
I believe BLESSING is my word for 2015 as well, but it is far more than that. It is my LIFE'S ONE WORD.
My 24 x 365 Blessings Challenge is my way of trying to live the One Word of BLESSING and see how it can transform me and my life.
I hope to be able to actually accomplish all of this. I cannot imagine how this will grow my faith and bring me deeper in the Word of God, the Holy Bible. I look forward to the journey.
HOW ABOUT YOU AND YOUR ONE WORD FOR 2015?
So, how about you? What is your One Word for 2015?
2014 ONE WORD
Did you have one word you were focusing on for 2014? If so, how did it go?
If not, and even if you did, what one word would you use to describe 2014?
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ANOTHER CHALLENGE FOR MYSELF: NANOWRIMO 2014
Written 2014-11-29 14:21:29, Saturday
I am probably a crazy person. Actually, there is no question about it. I am indeed crazy and a little masochistic. I evidently enjoy torturing myself, if I stop and think about it.
However, it is in the best sense possible and is for the best reason possible.
Since the year 2009, I have tried to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month of November), where there is a challenge to write a book of fifty thousand words (yes, that is 50,000) in one month.
I have won two of the six years (2009 and 2010).
This year of 2014 has yet to be determined.
However, I have not won three of those years (2011, 2012, and 2013).
I have tried to write over six books for this year's National Novel Writing Month and have fallen flat on my face with each attempt. I sigh as I admit to this. I frown as my head starts to pound as I feel disappointed with myself.
Well, as of thirty minutes ago, I have decided to take this blog and turn it into a blog book for National Novel Writing Month of November 2014. I have a total of 39,000 words so far. Consequently, I need to write 11,000 words at least today and tomorrow in order to "Win" NaNoWriMo 2014.
Hence, I am going to write like a madwoman about Stories of Blessings and counting my/our blessings. I will even share more of my Blessings Counted List.
I want to see how much I can get written to help inspire you to count your own blessings.
It is actually the perfect time of year for me to approach this endeavor--and is perfect for you to take up the torch of counting your blessings.
I hope the writing I share with you will inspire you.
I also hope the writing I share with you will help you to see how blessed you truly are, even though you may have thought the exact opposite.
So, am I crazy? You bet. But, it is in a good way.
I want to share with you the Blessings Giver and help you to become a Blessings Counter.
I issue you this challenge:
If you were to do anything for the rest of your life, and make one goal, and have one vision, may it be this:
Be a Blessings Counter.
I guarantee you and your life will transform into something completely unimaginable to you now. And, it will be for the absolute best. You will learn how life is good--because the Blessings Giver is so good. Our lives in each and every moment are overflowing with abundant blessings.
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MY REFLECTION (AND ANALYZING) OF COUNTING MY BLESSINGS FROM NOVEMBER 2013 TO NOVEMBER 29, 2014
Written 2014-11-29 14:34:24, Saturday
Back on November Sixth of 2013, I decided out of desperation to try to become a Blessings Counter.
Yes. It was out of desperation alone.
I had to count my blessings, for I had no other option. I was out of options. My life had just been dealt one of the largest challenges I ever had to endure. It was quite painful and it has only been recently that the pain from that time has become a friend and not an enemy. The pain is a companion now and is not something that causes me to suffer.
Yes. Time does not ever heal a wound, contrary to what some say. Time teaches us to bear with the pain patiently. Time brings us to the point of when we realize the pain is not an enemy. It is always there and will always be most likely. At times, it will be worse than at others. But, the pain will always be at least a shadow, a scar.
Therefore, when pain can become a companion, it is quite helpful and is a reminder of growth.
I tried to count my blessings for a while and did really good with it, but counting them hurt. It reminded me of how unblessed I really was in areas I wanted nothing more than to be blessed in. Needless to say, I stopped. (Looking back now, I see that was a grave mistake.)
Then, in April, there was another quite painful thing that happened. Stack it on top of the October 2013 pain and that meant the pain was magnified. It was additional pain on top of already experienced deep pain. Pain stacked feels more than pain doubled. It is pain added on top of pain. How do you count blessings through this?
I made the mistake of not trusting that counting my blessings, even if I repeated them from before, was the very thing that would help heal me and get me through. It was the very thing that would help my dreams to become bigger and more impossible. The bigger and more impossible dreams that are dreamt prove there is a Blessings Giver. For, on my own, on our own, these things would never have been able to happen. It has taken the Blessings Giver.
Then, things got even more stressful when my husband, B, and I realized we would have to let go of several of our dreams and visions of our future. We had to let go of our hopes and dreaming for a better life. We had to realize it may not have been what the Blessings Giver had in mind at all. Maybe the Blessings Giver wanted us to have less so we could offer more.
I counted my blessings again.
Then, we got more bad news.
I stopped counting my blessings again.
More bad news. Worse than before.
Stopped counting my blessings.
Then, things started to look up and I stopped counting my blessings again. Not like I did before. But, I still lessened the counting of blessings.
I am starting to learn this loud and clear: I MUST count my blessings day and night, regardless of what has happened, or hasn't happened, regardless of how busy I am or not, regardless of whether I am in pain or having great joy.
Blessings are given by a Blessings Giver and are dependent on no one and nothing.
So, blessings are always given. Freely by the Blessings Giver. And, I should always give thanks, regardless. For blessings are in every moment without fail--and I do not want to waste one moment.
I will count my blessings--and do The 34 x 365 Blessings Challenge and count 1,000 blessings per month for thirteen months and then maybe do it every month for the rest of my life.
Who couldn't use more blessings?
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MY WRITING: THE METAMORPHOSIS
Written 2014-11-29 19:04:37, Saturday
I keep fighting counting my blessings and sharing my stories of blessing--with the hopes of hearing yours.
So, I will stop fighting it and will count away.
I will spend the rest of my life searching for blessings from the Blessings Giver and counting them.
This is the purpose of my writing.
It is to help people to learn how to count their blessings and how each moment, no matter what, is full of many blessings. we just need to search for them, count them, and remember them. This adds to the sweetness and joy of life.
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