Author: Journeys of My Heart

I am a gal who wants to live my best life, and celebrate each "grace moment" that I'm given daily. I am married to a good guy who let's me indulge in the things that make me happy and encourages my growth. I enjoy being an encouragement to others, reading, photography, music, singing, playing instruments, being by the water, cozy times with my hubby, family time, drives with my camera in hand, and traveling to see different places. This blog is about walking the journey of life together. I usually post 1 to 2 times a month; at least that is my goal. Sign up with your email so you don't miss out on the next post! Thanks for stopping by!

Extra Thankful Day

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Life Foundations

Today I woke up feeling very thankful; more so than normal. I think it was the Holy Spirit encouraging me in times that are a little more difficult. I think we all have days where we say, “This wasn’t what I expected my life to look like.” I feel that through all the struggles and adventures I haven’t chosen, that I have learned an inner determination to never ever give up. There is always something to be thankful for. So today is one of those reminders to enjoy the moment I’m in. I might not have it again tomorrow.

I am very thankful for the age I currently am. I may have some troubles in my body, but I can still go and do, and I have the energy to do it. I have been retired for years and loving it. I have the desire to keep learning in various areas of interest. I love trying to new ways of doing things in my home and kitchen cooking/baking and life in general. I love to BBQ and enjoy the fruits of a great outcome. My life style is a chosen one. I choose to do things beyond the “must do” list. I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to. I have the ability to say no. I know someone of you reading this saying, “Well I don’t have a family and a job, so of course you have time.” No… it can be more of a choice for you also. The answer might need to be bringing NO in your vocabulary more often. I love playing in so many different areas, that I can become a bit ADD, but that is ok. I enjoy the direction that I can go in my life right now. The choices I make today will affect my tomorrow. Culture wants us to think we have to go and busy to have a good life. That is not so. Everyone needs to slow down. Life isn’t a race. It is a gift for as long as we are on earth. I live with very few regrets. I have fun.

I just finished another project for my window that has been on my desk for weeks. I now have curtain pull backs that are my Grandma’s lace my mom had, and two of her red buttons from her jar. I like the whimsical look in The Loft.

I got a couple of decor items on my deck. My grandparent’s clock is now in place. House painted. Gutters up. ( I didn’t do those) Re-arranged some cupboards to better accommodate kitchen items. It is the little things that we keep doing that can bring relaxation and joy back to the space where we relax and spend time.

Here are a few of my thanks:

  • I have a wonderful creative place in The Loft
  • I love the deck outside to sit and enjoy when I can have no mosquitoes
  • I have opportunities at a great price (and free also) to study any subjects I want
  • A fun car for a drive with windows down and wind blowing through my hair
  • AC in my house and car to keep this gal cool in hot weather she doesn’t enjoy
  • Friends in my life
  • I am surrounded by things I really love and tell a story
  • I can do anything that I choose to do within reason
  • My eye sight
  • My ability to move and walk
  • My stubbornness that keeps me driven to keep living to the fullest
  • The legacy that lives within the walls of my home
  • An upcoming road trip
  • The Word to read and be encouraged and ability to study it
  • A large umbrella going up on the back deck to enjoy and has slights
  • Groceries in the freezer and pantry
  • Provision for what we have
  • A hubby that is ok with most of my endeavors.
  • Candle light
  • Bread Baking
  • Mochas and Ice Tea
  • My health
  • That I DESIRE to LIVE between the dash

Those is just a few! I love where I am in my life and that I have learned what is important and will last. In spite of the hardships, I can always learn something from them. It isn’t always easy, but if I am willing to ask, I will receive some direction and learn some lessons. The kicker? Sometimes I don’t get the reasons. Sometimes I just have to trust the process and ask God to keep me on the right track. But age helps me realize that it is ok to feel that the uncertainty, and even welcome those times, because if I trust Him, I know what is best is what will come about.

You see, I once was on the busy track in my younger years as a wife and mom. I took on what was not really all of my responsibility. However, I was afraid that if I didn’t, the outcome was not going to be good. I worked a lot. I didn’t have the time I wanted as a mom. I really didn’t want to work once I had kids. But circumstances made me feel like I needed to and I was expected to in my situation at the time. I look back on that and now tell to the younger JoAnn, that I should have listen to my heart. That is where God speaks. But…no condemation here for me, because I did what I thought was best at the time. However, when we don’t listen, we going on letting our lives dictate what our life will look like. My advice to younger families is to work to live, and live to work. You need time together, and phones off maybe. What will you have and what will your life and family look like if you don’t? Who will suffer? I have learned that slowing down, taking care of myself, and finding the joy in what tickles my heart and soul, is what makes my life move forward with contentment.

So here is some advice for free…pick up a book, learn an instrument, BBQ and cook with family more, live outside more, finish projects so you don’t have to think about doing them anymore. Make something you thought about making but didn’t. Look at that cake! It was delightful! Stay active however that looks for you. Keep learning for the rest of your life. All of these experiences I mentioned are what can make you thankful everyday. There are always things to be thankful for! I love that at this age, I have so much available to me, that I want to take advantage of it! I am typing this on one of them. Your computer or phone gives you all the ability to listen to a book, take a class, write a memoir, share encouragement, and yes, read a blog.

I love that you have stuck with me through the years of writing here. Some of you are new and I want to welcome you. I always enjoy reading your comments!

May you find insight and encouragement in the above post. Stay strong, stay the course, stand strong, and be thankful! There is so much we can do, and we are never too old to start! Be someone’s inspiration. Leave your legacy.

I’m going to play my guitar for a while.

Until next time…

~JoAnn

Waiting…Are You Good At It?

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Life Foundations

Do you ever get sick of waiting? Waiting for something important to be completed, a task to get done, or circumstances to change? I think you would agree we could make a LONG list of things we have had to wait on. It’s not fun. We are walking the floor and tapping our feet so to speak for something to happen, change or come to fruition.

Let me give you an example in my own life that shows what this struggle is for me. I am a type of person that if something needs to be done, I do it and get it behind me and off my list. I rarely procrastinate on anything. I know this is what needs to be done so I do it. If it is a big job, I will break it down in pieces to work on it over a few days if needed. I might not like the job, but I work til it’s done. I might even be known to make a list of the tasks so I have direction to get them done and cross off my list. I make decisions the same way. I don’t go off half-cocked and just run head long into it, but if there is something I want to have done, then I want to complete it and get it done. Not months later, but now. If I need to make phone calls, I make them. I follow up. I talk to the people I need to talk to get information for my decision so the next step can be taken. Getting the picture a bit clearer? Well…keep reading.

Ok here is the kicker. I live with someone who in the last six years, has become completely the opposite. Here are a few comments I will get when it is taking forever:

  • I will get to it.
  • I said I would get to it.
  • What is your problem?
  • I will do it tomorrow.
  • What is your big hurry? I’ll get to it.

Do you any of you recognize that scenario? Have you ever been the one to give those responses? The more I want it to be done, the longer it seems to take for its completion. It’s hard when you are coming for two different places. One is saying I will get it done when I get it done, and the other is working more on this year’s schedule than current time frame. I just got a window blind up that we have had for over a year and it just got put up. Yes…waiting is not my strong suit. I would rather get it done and enjoy the fruits of the labor. Which one are you?

So back to waiting. Here are some thoughts I am reminded of in regards to waiting. I know that God can teach a lot of things in the waiting room. It’s not fun, or even pleasant at times, but He uses it all to teach us. We can sometimes learn some of life’s greatest lessons in the waiting room. We are so used to getting everything quickly and we get impatient if we have to wait at all. But when we are better at waiting, we often can look back and see His hand in the circumstances. We might then be able to hear His voice and and get direction, if we aren’t kicking up dust and talking to ourselves about long we have waited. We don’t know what He is doing while we wait. He may be directing right person to help, or the right doctor to see, the best price on something, just a lesson we need to learn, or others are watching us to see how we handle it. In my case, how is JoAnn going to handle this?

Sometimes, it’s finding out we aren’t so good at it and God wants us to improve our time in the waiting room. There are things we can do to aid in the process, when we give up on pushing through. We may need to ask him for strength or the ability not to grow weary, or just be mad. You see, when you get impatient with the waiting, it can cause undue stress and weariness, as well as, loss of energy yourself. So when we learn to turn the waiting over, then it makes it easier on us. The people that may cause our waiting, most likely don’t care. If they did, they would do something different. They don’t. It’s like forgiveness. We don’t forgive because the person who hurt us needs or wants it, because they likely don’t care. We forgive because it is the best for us. Same goes here. We can’t hold on to the anger of impatience or it only hurts us. And I’m saying this to myself today as well. This is lesson is a reminder to me also.

Waiting isn’t wasted. We have time to sift through our feelings, our circumstances, even our motives. Are we trusting or are we complaining. Is it strengthening our faith or testing our faith? Don’t give up. Keep seeking the answers for you in waiting periods. It isn’t easy if you are the check it off the list person. I know. But…you just might find that one day the door opens and the waiting is over, and you walk though the door for the answer you have been waiting for.

Today maybe I will get my Mother’s Day gift light up in my kitchen. There is hope! And I am waiting. There is Someone who truly knows my heart and He will take care of me however it goes.

Here is to waiting with the right attitude. He did get the light up today, bless his heart!! Might even get my moon light up today for the entry also! God is good. Waiting well is key.

Until next time…

~JoAnn

Changes Or Cover-ups

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Life Foundations

The last several days have been quite the adventure! I have watched our home be scraped and sanded, and scraped and sanded some more. You know, a house takes pretty good care of us if we take good care of it. Show it a little love. But when we don’t, things happen to it like the weather along with the way it hits and batters our home. How easy it can be for leaves and twigs to gather in our gutters and down spouts. Heat can cause our home’s glory to fade and/or blister over time. So even as the previous owners may not have wanted to, or just couldn’t take care of this home, and any repairs were less than stellar, it is still standing and hopefully, we will bring some beauty back to its outside cedar walls. So… what has that got to do with changes and cover-ups? Let me share a few thoughts with you about what came to mind as I did a walk-around and took a picture of the pre-finished prep and painting.

First came the bath. Power washing an older home with cedar wood siding can bring surprises. BIG surprises…such as wood needing replacement. Then after house drying, came the listening to the drone of a scraper going across our walls and the sander sanding down the rough spots. It was rather painful to me. There were some warped areas even that need to be straightened out by extra support. However, it made me think of how my life has had many rough patches, splinters and chips that have needed to be taken off by the Carpenter Himself. When our contractor did this for the house, it was for the better and longer life of the home. He was cleaning it, smoothing out the wood as much as possible for the age of the cedar, and preparing it for the next step. The next step was to fill anything that might need filling, priming spots that needed it to accept the paint that was coming. But what if you had to change the color scheme completely? Roll baby roll with it. We had to just that, from blues to green with off white trim.

But…let’s pause and think about that. What would happen if he just would have come here and just started painting? The paint would have looked ok for a while maybe, but in a not too distant future, the paint would have shed off the old cedar and we would have a multi-colored home with bleeding of old paint. The paint would not have adhered to the wood given how dusty it was and the problem areas of the siding. All the work and money would be for not.

So… do you ever carry your bad experiences or anger, and have a few chips and splinters and rough patches that you refuse to allow to be cared for? You know you need it, but may not willing to deal with it or do the work required, along with God’s help, to see where it may need some extra attention for you to let it all go? Oh we can try to cover it up with a life style we show everyone in person or on social media, or by the clothes we wear, or the house or car have, or purse we carry. We can even hide the sadness on my face with makeup so we look good for others. However, we could be crying inside, or be lonely even among many people. We could purchase “things” so that we feel better, or have a glass of wine thinking that will do the trick. But it won’t. We still have to live with ourselves. We know what we think and feel like…like an old house needing attention. That is why God tells us to know Him more and more, and He will guide and direct us. He helps us shed what needs to be shed.

I believe God was reminding me today that it isn’t about all that. It is about what I am willing to let go of, and how much excavating I am willing to do to smooth out the rough areas. That IS my responsibility. God will help me if I am willing. However, I have to be willing to do the work. It is work to do what the contractor did for the house prep. He knows the value of getting that all accomplished before painting. And even though all that work is done, it will still carry some of those rough spots…the scars of living. I have plenty of those and they show and give testimony to how I have made it through with God’s help. I don’t like them, but they remind me of what God has brought me through. Ask God to be your sandpaper and rub off the things He needs to work on, or chip off what needs to be chipped off. It is a process that will sting a little, but He is faithful to help us. And.. IF you think you don’t have areas to work on, you are in some kind of denial. Why?? Because we all have them. We just have gotten good at hiding them from ourselves and others. It will come out at some point. Better to do the work before that happens. It is my hope at some point to add a little Norwegian flair to the peaks of the home. But that it a day from my oldest son to add to our personal touches.

This house was a legacy to someone before us. Mark Batterson says, “Legacy is not what you accomplish. Legacy is what others accomplish because of you.” God has given us a house…it is our desire to make it a home where others feel something different in its presence. So as I walk around it today with the front of it being done without the trim painting, I can see progress to loving on a home with all its issues as a way to give back to God the joy of caring for what He has graciously given us. We will continue to be faithful to that end. Even when there will be areas that continue to remind us of the value you a few scars…it means we have lived.

Doesn’t your life scream for that also? Mine does. I want to leave a legacy to those around me, and who love and care for me. Don’t you see how God cares for you each day you wake up to breathe the fresh air? Because, if you have taken that for granted and just think you deserve to live here and do what you do, then I hope you see the value of this lesson about life differently after reading this. You were given a life, and many haven’t had that privilege of a long life. You have the opportunity to build a legacy with your freedom; to make it what you would you desire and leave that legacy behind. Start where you can, with what you have, and keep stepping forward. He is faithful to guide us if we don’t think we are so smart that we don’t need Him. We do now more than ever. I know I do and I’m sure if you are honest with yourselves, you could admit there are areas of your life you need do something about. Are you covering it up to try and hide it, or letting God work with you to prepare you for what is next? That’s the rub, isn’t it? Letting Him in to do the work. It might take some time and hurt for a while. However, the end result is pretty amazing. Lessons are not always easy or fun, but you can feel grateful for the grace given for the journey you are on.

Let Him do a little remodeling in your heart and in your thinking. We will have a home to remind us of just that. We still have to do the maintenance on the house to keep it in good condition. We have to do the same thing in our daily lives. Our home is still not done, but we will have a better version of our home when it is complete. And…I did get my red door still!

Remember the seeing the picture of the Jesus knocking at the door? We have heard that verse about Jesus standing at the door of your heart, but WE must open the door. Do you know why that says that? Because if you look at the picture of the original, you will find there is no handle on the outside of the door. That is because we have to open it from the inside to allow Him entry.

Until next time…

~JoAnn

P.S. I have decided through prayer, that my weekly posts may have been more me than Him, so I chosen not to continue that part of this blog. Given my blog is what this site is for, I will stay with that. Thank you so much for being faithful in your readership. I appreciate all of you! Enjoy the sunshine.

Maintaining in Life

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Life Foundations

Sometimes we struggle to keep our spirits up and focused on the right things. It is a struggle for everyone at times. And…it can go sideways quickly. I find there are things I can do however, to get back on track. What about you??

I would love to hear your thoughts or ideas about you keep your spirits up. If you have a moment, please leave your ideas in the comments. Until next time…

~JoAnn

What’s Around The Corner?

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Life Foundations

Sometimes, it is one simple thing that can make all the difference. What is that one thing for you today?

I am sorry I missed this last Friday’s post, but I was on the road. But maybe it was just so I could take this picture to explain my thought for the week! Who knows? Well…God does. You know He is always there!

Until next time…

~JoAnn

New Every Morning

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Life Foundations

When the evening and the dark close in, it can be hard for us to break through the hard stuff. We also have a tendency to be more emotional at night. So remember this verse when you experience those times. I was certainly reminded of that as we left home early today and saw all the beautiful sunrise and we were led by the half moon all the way.

I am making a change in “The Loft” posts. I will be posting once a week on Wednesdays instead of twice week, so this post today will be my post for this week and I will see you next week on Wednesday.

Until next time from The Loft…

~JoAnn