21%

I have 21% battery power left on my laptop and 3 blogs to write to meet my goal.  No pressure, right?

I have joined a writing group, and it is truly a wonderful component of my life.  However, I have yet to turn in any items to be reviewed, discussed and critiqued by them.  They are why I'm sitting here with 21% remaining battery life.  I started my day with 100%, so I have indeed been busy, but I have the "pressure" of submitting something before our next deadline.

I would say it's really more of accountability than true pressure.  It doesn't impact their lives if I don't write, it impacts mine.  I respect them for checking on me to see if I am progressing and I value each one of them and my life is better for knowing them.

12% left - yikes!

Powered down at 11%, but I'm back now.

Goals, accountability, deadlines, pressure - do those words scare you or excite and empower you?  I believe we each need a balance of these to help us live a full life, along with the fun things.  I know I need that accountability and the dwindling 21% power to push me to meet my goals. Actually, it looks like I needed electricity to help meet that deadline.  Oh, how I can take power for granted. 

One More Thing...

What pressure do you feel right now? Do you have friends that push you to be your best?

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect with.

Lois Lynn

Distractions

I have the day off.  I dream of being a writer - I want the fantasy writer life I imagine waiting for me so I pack up the laptop and go to hang out at a restaurant to "be a writer".  I have an agenda, I have topics in mind, it's beautifully sunny outside and I'm sitting in front of a bank of floor to ceiling windows. 

Did I mention that I have been living obsessed with the desire to be doing this while being at the beach?

I'm settled, I've ordered, I'm good.  I'm waiting for the computer to boot up and then two men are seated at the table behind me. 

For those of you guessing ahead of me...no, THEY were not the cause of my distraction.  At least, not in the manner that you may be thinking.  I don't even know what they look like, but they are talking about cruising to Mexico.  You know - sunshine, surf, beach, great Mexican food, time off, etc.

Oh sure, and I was supposed to write.  I immediately shoot off an e-mail to my writer friends and brilliantly, they all quickly sent back the same reply, "write about it."  So, you can blame today's topic on my friends.  Unless, of course, you are enjoying this.

So today, my distraction is my longing for the coast, a specific type of coast.  Yesterday, I was distracted by wanting to organize a new art studio section in my basement.

I find this particularly ironic because earlier this week I was reading about the need to focus.  Ha!  Glad I only borrowed that book instead of buying it.  (Actually, I would like to buy it, it was great.)

One More Thing...

What is your current distraction? What is hindering you from doing what you want to be doing?

Note: I did not ask you about what you NEED to be doing, but what you WANT to be doing.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect with.

Lois Lynn

A Laugh By Any Name

If you received this via e-mail, click here to see my blog...in it's entirety,with photos.

Giggle.  Smile.  Guffaw.  Snort.  Chortle.  Man-laugh.  Squeal.

I don't care what kind of laugh you have, but I hope you laugh often.  It's my opinion that most of us don't laugh enough and we don't laugh without editing ourselves.  Oh, you know what I mean. 

When was the last time you almost lost control from laughing so hard?  How long has it been since you threw your head back and just roared with laughter?  Do you try to maintain a sweet little laugh, but if you were to be honest, you would snort and cry from laughing so hard?

I dare you - let it out!  The world needs more laughter.  If you laugh out loud at movies or TV shows, invite a friend over to laugh with you.

Do you have friends that make you laugh?  Do they tell funny jokes, or is it simply that they are filled with such joy and wonder that time with them seems to always include an element that brings laughter?  Do you reach the point when almost everything becomes funny?

I'm fortunate to have some friends like that, and I get to spend a lot of time laughing with them.  I try to fill my life with people that make me laugh and have the ability to laugh with me.  Life's too short to be miserable.

A particular joy for me is to go out to lunch with friends and have so much fun laughing and sharing stories that we appear to be intoxicated!  I love to watch the people around us slowly become a part of our happiness.

In Spring 2010, I was able to return to my hometown and gather with most of "the cousins", a loose term meaning "the most wonderful, laugh-filled women I know and I happen to be related to them".  There are cousins, aunts, nieces, moms, daughters, etc. in this gathering but we call that group "The Cousins".  I miss them.  I want to grow up to be just like them - they laugh, a LOT and they will never, ever grow up.

NOTE: In the photo, we are actually missing several, but this picture caught the spirit of the day so well.  It is difficult to corral a group of such giddiness, but here's a few of my great family members.

One More Thing...

When was the last time you laughed uncontrollably?  Who were you with?  What were you doing?  Funny stories being told, or just good times together?

I hope you laugh.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect with.

Lois Lynn

Sharing My Friends

I'm taking a different approach today.  First, a little bit of "business".  I appreciate every one of you that chooses to spend a few minutes with my blog each week.  I do want to remind those of you that follow via e-mail that the message you receive only shows you the writing portion of the blog, but there are several other things that I include from time to time, like pictures, links to outside information, my Etsy store, etc. so please take a moment to go to the actual blog website if you can and not just read the e-mail message.  If you go to the blog, you also have the option of posting a comment, even if you are not signed into that account - you can use anonymous...but, please, tell me who you are at the end.

For the next few posts, I'll include the link here so you can simply select that link.
http://loislynndesigns.blogspot.com/

Now, on to the fun stuff!

I have some really interesting people in my life and I want to take today's blog space to share a couple of them with you.  They have not asked me to do this, I simply want to share their stories with you to allow you to meet them.

The first one is a friend of mine from church who began a mission to train for a marathon while raising funds to battle cancer.  Her dad was battling this disease and has passed while she's been in training.  I'm inserting a quote from her first post below and the link to her page so you can read her story and support her.

I'm training to participate in the Nike Women's Marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Luci Smith's Racing To Save Lives



The second person I'd like to introduce you to is Ron Heaggy.  I heard Ron speak at our church, but did not get to meet him.  His positive attitude made an impact on me, even without directly meeting him.  He received an unusual birthday present for his 18th birthday - a paralyzed body. 

I'm including the opening statement from his website below and a link below that.  Don't forget to go look through his art and blog as well.  His art is great, but amazing when you read how he does it!  Not only just by mouth, but he turns it over halfway through and connects the picture while painting half of it as an upside-down image.  This just blew me away!  Enjoy meeting Ron. 

I also want to share that due to some recent health issues, he's not been able to speak as often and therefore his income level is dramatically reduced.  If you are touched by his NEVER GIVE UP attitude, I'd love to point out his links to donate and support the family and/or the ministry.

Hi, I'm Ron Heagy and welcome to my website. I broke my neck the day before my 18th birthday in a surfing accident. I am now a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. I chose to Never Give Up. After receiving a masters degree by typing with a stick in my teeth, I am now an inspirational speaker, mouth painter, author, husband, father, and founder of a special needs camp located in Oregon, which has given freedom to numerous individuals to explore the wonderful outdoors. I am also the founder of Life Is An Attitude LLC.

Ron Heagy (Roll on Ron)

I hope you enjoy your time looking through their pages.  These friends are inspiring to me and I hope they inspire you.  May we all live, laugh and learn from them.

Remember...With Love...While We Can

My church celebrated it's 100th anniversary this past weekend.  I had the honor of serving on the team that coordinated these activities, but my heart was somewhat disconnected.  I have been here since May 2000 and I have two friends that have moved away but are not planning to attend the reunion so really, why should I care about this event?

One friend is in California and I was able to visit her last month for the first time since she moved years ago and my best friend is in Alaska and was unable to return.  So, if my best friend wasn't coming...I really didn't have any heart into this for my own sake.  I had nothing to gain at this event and anticipated being saddened by watching reunions of others, while still longing for my best friend and not knowing when I'd ever get to see her again.  I didn't think I had any reason to celebrate 100 years.

I was wrong.

Friday night, I had the pure pleasure to support two of my friends simply by attending an event that they were coordinating.  What a joy to have people I love enough to want to do something for them.  Sure, there were desserts afterward...but it was for the joy of friendship that I gave up my Friday night off.

Saturday, my soul was filled to the brim and overflowing.  A glimpse of Heaven filled me.  I connect with God mostly through nature and music.  I connect with some music more than other music - it is not all equal for me.  We sang through the century with several styles of music.  I was able to enjoy the "old school" stuff I grew up with and hear the harmonies blend together.

The husband of my best friend, also someone I dearly love, led a set that restored my empty soul.  The songs and style from this era, the passion, joy, and energy they were led with, along with the heart connection I have with the people leading it - these all opened my heart, dropped down all the walls and filled me up with God.  I hear great music often, but it doesn't always get from my ears to my heart.  I was being given a huge gift from God and He was reminding me how much He loved me through those words and that music.

There was an opportunity to spend an additional 3 hours that evening with about 25 people singing, playing instruments, worshiping God and loving each other and God together that showed me so clearly that it is truly people that God uses to reach us, and to love us.  I felt more loved that night than I've felt in years and I felt like I loved more also. It was a room filled with faces that would become a part of my history due to recent events upheaving my church family. The family I knew once would never be together again until Heaven.

Even kids of friends, now in their 20's still make time to say hi and hand out hugs.  People from several chapters of my life share one common denominator - they love God.  Guess what?  They also love me and I love them.

I'm not always great with telling people how much they mean to me - I hope you are better at it than I am.  This week, I challenge you to make it a goal to tell somebody that you love them.  Consider telling someone that isn't as close to you as family, but maybe somebody that might not really know how you feel about them.

People are special.  We can remember the special people in our lives, with love.

A few weeks ago, I helped my family pack up the home of my grandparents, who have both passed on.  All of these things combined to remind me that people are of the utmost importance and most anything else can wait. 

A singing group from my college days did a marvelous version of the song, "Love Them While You Can".  This is primarily directed at the love our parents or guardians gave us, but there is a real-life application for telling everybody how special they are to us.  If the first link doesn't play, please follow the link to another version.

Take a listen to Golden Deed's version here

Video Option




One More Thing...

Remember someone special this week, with love...while we can. Then go tell them what they mean to you, or drop them a card.

Take care, and I'm always here to listen, pray for you, or to encourage you.

Lois Lynn

The Person Inside

About six years ago, two of my friends and I read through and studied Luci Swindoll's book, I Married Adventure.  During that time I received one of my greatest blessings ever - a chance to go on a cruise to Mexico with my best friend, at a very low cost.  Here I was in the midst of studying about adventure and I couldn't leave my study partners behind. 

We each selected a stuffed animal to represent our true selves, the person inside us that many don't know.  There were three stuffed animals in my suitcase - a brown horse, a frog, and a brightly colored bird.  While at times embarrassed, I did take photos of "The Adventure Gang" in a variety of locations including sunning on the Lido Deck and enjoying chips and guacamole in Cabo San Lucas.

I find that people can often surprise you as you begin to grow deeper in the knowledge of who they are.  I have some friends that I thought to be very humorless and kind of rigid...until I got to know them.  The opposite is also true.  I have some people in my life that are still full of surprises years after I reached the point where I really felt I knew them.  People are complex - after all, God made each one of them and just look at what He's capable of!

Our human nature tends to be pretty quick with judgment calls based almost solely on an exterior evaluation, or at best, maybe a first impression that includes conversation.  I have been working on this for years, but it's become apparent that I still have many long years of work left ahead of me.  

Last week, I was reading on Facebook about a burger contest here in town.  Needless to say, I bookmarked the page!  I discovered that one of the semi-finalists was at a place very close to work, so we ventured way beyond our comfort zone and went to this bar to try the burger.  I'm not sure I've ever been to a bar, a true bar like this one was.  There happened to be two large parties at the time, making it too loud for us to talk so we just sat there waiting for our food.  One gal there was covered in tattoos (large, odd-looking ones), kind of wild hair and an "earthy" outfit including a top that was made from a skirt.  The top was cute, but I found that I did jump to some conclusions (confession time).  There was enough of a lull in the conversation for me to hear that she had at least one master's degree, maybe even two and I believe she worked serving children.  Wow.  I was doing the very thing I get frustrated about when people do it to me.  I thought I knew her based on my first assessment.  I was wrong.

As for the burger...not a semi-finalist in my mind!  There are better ones out there, maybe soon to be featured in my blog.

Which animal do you think I chose to represent me?

I'd love to hear of any new adventures you find when you look a little deeper...to the person inside.  I hope and pray you will find somebody God has put into your life, that simply needed a closer look from you.

One More Thing...
I'd like to challenge you to step back, start over, and go deeper with some of the people you may have met along life's journey.  There may be a lot more to them than you ever expected or had the courage to investigate.  God made them and they are here for a purpose just like you are.  Do you want to miss out on those great adventures?

Take care, and I'm always here to listen, pray for you, or to encourage you.

Lois Lynn