How to Deal with People Who Try to Bring You Down by Jennifer Dukes Lee @ in(courage)
These Unproductive Winter Days by Addie Zierman
11 Books to Curl Up With This Winter by Anne Bogel @ modernmrsdarcy.com
What Mentally Strong Leaders Believe by Amy Morin @ drcloud.com
On Making Plans and Hearing God’s Voice by Emily Freeman
by Sarah Golden
by Aliza Latta
Because sometimes I need practical steps that ease anxiety or help me experience peace, today I am beginning a series called Collecting Peace.
Like the way my 3 year old collects acorns and leaves from the ground and brings them to me. It’s nice, that tangible feeling of holding some small item in my hand.
What comes next for Oliver is the sorting and the lining up, like when he lines up his cars.
That is my vision is for this series- focusing on a different small object each week. One that reminds me of encouraging truth or that helps me fight despair & anxiety in a practical way.
So today I will begin with the pomegranate seed.
Did you know “garnet” comes from the Latin word “Garanatus,” meaning “seed-like”? It is in connection to a pomegranate, because garnets look like bright red seeds that can be found in the fruit.
Garnet is also the birthstone for the month of January, which seems fitting since January is the beginning of the year, like the seed represents the beginning of growth.
“See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.” Isaiah 42:9
I keep coming across different “seed” analogies in blogs posts, on podcasts, and in books.
I pay attention when synchronization like this occur.
“Though it is not what it will be, a seed has all it needs even while carrying a hopeful vision for transformation in the future.
I’m learning to embrace the small, hidden, slow-growing part of my soul and to practice the spiritual discipline of knowing I have everything I need.” -Emily Freeman
During the Winter months when green growth is not obvious, when brittle branches brush against grey skies there still remains the truth of the seed. A reminder that breakthroughs can happen. Breaking-out of a shell or breaking through the soil above ground.
My close friend Molly just gave birth to her son Evan last week. During those nine month of pregnancy there was definitely discomfort for her. All the while during those 9 months we were in the process of renovating our home. Also an uncomfortable trying process!
And so here we are near breakthrough or in Molly’s case already there. She is now at home cuddling her baby boy, and our home is so very close to being completed. And together we celebrate the newness.
But during the times of waiting and persevering the idea of the seed gave my soul peace. A peace to trust even in slow or difficult growth. It reminded me to value the small beginnings and small steps forward.
The seed gives us reason to hope and not despair.
Off the Track by Greer Oharah @ Ordinary Epiphanies
“It’s been snowing here this week. All that white snow we were dreaming about at Christmas is here and seems like it’ll stay put for a bit. It falls so steadily, so quietly, hour after hour. It makes the world seem like a softer place, a gentler place with a little more lenience. Slow down, it whispers as it covers the roads and sidewalks and windows. Drive slow, walk slow, go slow.” -Greer Ohara, @ ordinaryepiphanies.com
Tending, Pruining and Waiting by Aimee Kollmansberger @ middlemercies.com
“After so much tending and pruning, it is now a season of waiting. Wait for His presence. Wait for the growth. Wait for the fruit. I am a producer, and He is showing me again that I cannot produce connection, fruit, maturity. That is His work and His timing and I wait. I Corinthians 3:6 says, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God gave the growth.””
-Aimee Kollmansberger, @ middlemercies.com
Buzz Buzz by Lisa Leonard
Changing Personal Traditions by Francine Rivers
8 Things Saving My Life Right Now by Tsh Oxenreider
The Creative Life: Insights for INTP’s, ENTPs, & ENFP’s by Dr. AJ Drench
What the View of Delft and the Shepherds at Night Teach me About Watching by Lore Ferguson Wilbert
“Nothing is quite what it seems. It takes time and love to make this painting beautiful, just as it takes time and love to make life beautiful.” -Lord Ferguson Wilbert
“Blessed are the ears that eagerly listen for the breath of the divine whisper; and do not pay attention to the many whisperings of the world.” -Thomas A Kempis
Gentleness begins within; receiving truth instead of lies, listening for God’s voice of love instead of a voice of rejection that tells us we are never good enough and there is always something missing. Because the truth is we are made whole in Him.
On my journey to gentleness in 2017 I am focusing on the following actions. I thought I might share them with you.
I am wrapping up this mini-series Clothe Yourself with Gentleness with today’s post. I have loved where this creative process has taken me.
In wrapping up the series, I am shifting perspective to peace. Peace is my word for 2017. Just something I may study about or take more notice of this year.
In the next day or two I will be working on my latest newsletter that I send out over email. It includes new content like a behind the scenes look at what I have been up to or what I am loving lately. You can sign up by clicking the link below.
A Gentle Way to Review Your Life by Emily Freeman
A Note for January 1 by Abi Spencer
15 Books for New Routines and Fresh Starts by Anne Bogel
Word of the Year by me
@_shelflife
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melissa hirshburg 