Houston, Texas is never this cold! Chill to the bone. All you northerners must have thicker skin because I don’t see how I could handle this for months on end. Am I whining? Now, the crackling fire in the fireplace, a new episode of The Mentalist (because I just love to watch Jane), and an excuse to have a nice scathing hot cup of chocolate (with a dash of Bailey’s) is always a good trade off for being stuck inside.
I digress from the point of this project, don’t I? I’m stalling… 🙂
If I were to grade myself on being ‘aware’ and ‘present’ I’d have to say I made a C+…maybe a B-. This morning in my excersise class I was all set up with weights, bench and everything and then someone came in and asked if I would move my spot so she could be where I had set up (it wasn’t crowded, plenty of spots were still open). I was taken aback only because that’s not how it normally works. There is an unspoken decency code in all aspects of social life and in this instance you basically set up wherever you can and if you want a particular spot in the room, well then, you come early enough to get it. I wasn’t committed to my spot so I just shrugged and said sure, and moved all of my things over to the other side of the room where there was plenty of space. Now, honestly, this IS a way I ‘showed up’ today because I didn’t argue the point and I didn’t make a big deal about it. I just did it. Who cares, right? But the ‘old’ spit fire Shannon would’ve asked her ‘why’. But the reason why I don’t give that an ‘A’ is because it STILL bothered me, so the decency of me moving and not complaining doesn’t really count. Hence, I’m not as nice as I wish I could be but I’m working on it. The Vatican wasn’t built in a day! 🙂
The rest of the day was blessed. I managed to pick up a writing project I began a year ago, a fiction series about angels and demons for a teen audience. I’ve been putting off coming back to it and I’ve never understood what’s been keeping me away. Sometimes when I’m doing something I love fear of failure keeps me from moving forward. But I pushed past that today and by the grace of God the story continues to burn within me aching to get on the page. This is another resolution, to finish at least the first book in the series this year.
I end the day with a request. This weekend I’m facilitating a retreat in Surfside, Texas. ON THE BEACH…and it’s the coldest weekend in the area since 1997. We have 20+ young professionals joining us on this retreat. Please pray for an annointed weekend and NO WIND. I will be bringing my laptop to keep up with the project…however, if the house doesn’t have internet then I’ll update on Sunday.
Blessings
Shannon