Daily 5 - Year 3, Day 41

Today's Daily 5:

1. leaving the house this morning and spotting the stars still out (hello, Orion's belt)
2. The satisfaction of finishing a book long in progress - one that wasn't an easy read
3. Sitting outside in my shirtsleeves over lunch
4. getting a really good deal on a scrapbooking product I've been eyeing
5. having an evening to myself

Brave Girls Club

I've been getting weekday emails from something called the "Brave Girls Club" for a number of weeks now, and they've moved me deeply.  They've been timely in the truths they speak, and I wanted to share one here, along with the link to their website, where you can sign up for yourself.

This one was from late last week and again spoke truths I very much needed to hear in those moments:

Dear Authentic Girl,



It's ok to cry sometimes, you know. It's even ok to completely fall apart for a little while so that you can put yourself back together in the way you are supposed to be together.

Sometimes the pieces of us get a little bit mixed up and we have to let ourselves fall apart so that we can get ourselves back in order. And it's ok to grieve over things that we've lost. It's ok to grieve over people that we've lost and it's ok to grieve over time that has been lost. It's ok to feel a bit of a hole in our hearts where loved things used to be.

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT THING, though. Remember, that you can still do the things that you want to do, and work toward the places that you want to be, and learn the things that you want to learn WHILE you are working through grief. You don't have to wait. Sometimes we make ourselves wait until all of the pain is gone to start living the life we want to have.

The time to start living the life we want to have is RIGHT NOW, even if it's while we are holding hands with pain. They really can live next to each other. And then when it's time for the pain to go, you are not left alone trying to figure out what to do next. You are already there -- just without the pain.

So please stop waiting, lovely you. Please stand up and take some steps into the places that you want to be. It's ok if your pain comes with you. It really is. Someday it will feel like it's done its job, and it will be gone. It really will.

YOUR JOB is to just keep moving, and you are the only one who can do it. You know it's time. Stand up, sweet sister. Take a step. You can do this.

Have a wonderful weekend.

xoxo

A message from your friends at the Brave Girls Club - www.bravegirlsclub.com

Monday, Monday (redux)

Last week I wrote somewhat cautiously, but still hopefully, about what Monday would hold.

It turned out to be the first day in a week that was challenging.  A week that really didn't pick up and get into a good place until Thursday.

And now it's Sunday night again, and I'm writing a Monday post.

I have no idea what to expect from the week ahead.

There are some big new things on my plate this week.

And some old things.

I'm hoping to squeeze in some space for creativity.

I know I'll have a bit of time with friends.

And next Saturday I have a date with a very short man who's interested in trucks.  Can't go by one without loudly pointing it out, actually.  We're going to the zoo together.  (Did I mention he's blond, blue eyed, and less than three feet tall?  Or that there's a 26 year difference in our ages?  That's not too much is it?)

And so, I'm heading into Monday prayerfully, waiting to see what the week ahead will hold.  Heading in hopefully, knowing that surprises do seem to lurk around corners lately.

More to come.