April WELCOME Check In

In case you missed it, my word of the year is WELCOME, described by the acronym below. For more details on why I chose this word go here.

Worship – Making room for God
Embrace – Making room for my family
Learn – Making room to grow my mind
Care – Making room for my health
Offer – Making room for others
Minimize – Making room by clearing a thing or practice from my life
Everyday Blessings – Recording the little joys that occur when I make room

WORSHIP
Goal: Wake early for more undistracted time with God.

This goal was a challenge since we ended up living in our camper all month. Even getting up early didn’t guarantee no distractions! But I did work towards earlier mornings by getting up a few minutes earlier each day.

Due to traveling to a convention, switching churches and some guest preachers at the new church, I heard a lot of different preachers this month. It seemed one common theme in several sermons I heard was “Is Jesus Real to You?”, recognizing His power and how it works practically in my life.

I’m still following this Bible reading plan. I didn’t have much opportunity for reading other books this month since we were gone and in between libraries. So, the Scripture was especially precious to me during this time!

EMBRACE
Goal: Work to be available for my family’s needs during this transition.

I have no idea if I was helpful to my family. I felt like I needed more help than I dished out most of the time! We kept Easter as normal as possible even though we had to leave out a few traditions since we moved out the day after Easter. Emotions ran high often, and we experienced them together or gave each other (limited) space to deal with them alone. We had lots of talks and some hugs and some annoyances that come with living together in a small space. We tried to keep a few things as familiar as possible living in a camper. We also celebrated a special family night out for ice cream and a whole day for our daughter’s 19th birthday. Other than that, we just did lots of work in our family business!

LEARN
Goal: Just read when possible.

Always, I’m learning through reading – one of my favorite pastimes. This month was greatly slowed down since I didn’t have access to a library or time for much of the month. I did read a little bit, however. Anytime I recommend a book (or anything for that matter!), remember it is not infallible and I’m not recommending or endorsing every part of it. With that caveat, here are a few good books I read this month:

Homemaking: Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines
I have home on my mind lately, I suppose. This was a beautiful and encouraging book on decorating. Even though Joanna is an expert, it felt attainable the way she explained it.

Fiction: One Little Lie by Colleen Coble
This was a new author to me, recommended by my sister. This is the beginning of her newest series, which I hope to finish next month.

CARE
Goal: Do 16:8 fasts consistently and walk when possible.

I’ve gotten out of the habit of drinking black coffee in the morning, which makes it more difficult to fast as long as I was fasting. I do have more opportunities to walk now since the weather is warming up, and I now live in a small town. I hope this will get more consistent once we get in our house.

OFFER
Goal: Complete different traveling obligations this month and visit people “back home”.

We had a wonderful Easter weekend visiting with my whole family which included a visit to the tea room, an Easter egg hunt and one of my mom’s signature Easter dinners. We were able to visit with a few people from our new area as well. A highlight of our month was the Inter-Church Holiness Convention held in Gatlinburg, TN. It is always such a refreshing time of spiritual encouragement for our family! We were also able to attend a missionary service presented by friends of ours just waiting for the borders to open so they can fulfill their call. I’m also looking forward to the Mother-Daughter Banquet “back home” after this post publishes. My mom has done an amazing job putting them on for over 30 years.

MINIMIZE
Goal: Finish moving in — declutter all things possible on both ends.

This didn’t exactly work out like we thought it would. We were able to do laundry in our new home, but we couldn’t move any belongings in since the building was delayed by various things. There’s always next month!

EVERYDAY JOYS
Most of the joys this month were images. I’ll include a few highlights from our everyday below.

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QUOTES OF THE MONTH:

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why are thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his (presence).

Psalm 42:5, KJV

There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken….; all came to pass.

Joshua 21:45, KJV

Serve the Lord with all your heart…For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people…Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you.

Portions of I Samuel 12:20-24, KJV

I hope you all had a cheery April and are enjoying spring! I’d love to hear some of your goals in the comments or in an e-mail. I’ll be crafting my new goals for May while (we hope!) settling into our new home, and I’ll update you on my progress next month.