Blogging Challenge -- Days 9-13

9. What's On Your Bucket List?

Travel to Europe
Run a marathon
Find a job I love, so I don't feel like I'm working
Visit NYC
Go on a family vacation
Lead a women's Bible study
Go to a movie by myself

Things I Have Already Achieved on my Bucket List:

Give blood
Donate hair to Locks of Love
Go skydiving
Go on an international mission trip (South Korea and Costa Rica)

10. Daily Routine -- With a 2 month old baby, my daily routine looks very different each day! Three days a week I go to work, leaving before the sun comes up and not getting home until about 5 pm. After I get home from work, I either go to youth girl's Bible study, Wednesday night dinner at my church, or relax at home for the evening with my baby and husband. Two days a week, I am off work and am able to get housework done and run errands. I also like to go on a walk, go running, and see friends and family on those days off. My routine is different each day, but I like the variety! And of course, my son determines a lot of how my daily routine goes :)

11. Last Book You Read -- The last few books I have read have been The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Hunger Games series, Mere Christianity, and The Fault in Our Stars.

12. Something You Miss -- I am at the stage of my life where I have a lot of responsibility. I am responsible for another human life, my house, my job, my car, etc. I also have a lot of financial responsibility. I love this phase of my life and am happier than I have ever been, but if I miss anything, it's probably the phase of my life where I had less responsibility and was able to be more carefree. Every decision I make now affects not only myself, but my entire family. Sometimes I miss those carefree high school and college days where I had less responsibility.

13. Do You Have Regret? My biggest regret is probably the time I have wasted in my life worrying about the future or how things would work out. Each time, everything has always worked out and I spent way too much of my time and energy worrying about things I couldn't control.

Just Say No

I don't know about you, but my life is pretty hectic...all the time. I'm always busy. I always have stuff going on. It's hard to get a spare moment to just catch my breath. The thing is...I bring most of this on myself. I am one of those people-pleasers. I can't ever say "no". I want to be involved in everything. I want to help everyone out. I almost feel like I am disappointing people by choosing to opt out of an activity, so I rarely do it. I don't take enough time for myself because I consistently say "yes" to everything and anything. I need to learn to take a step back and just say "no".

It's so hard to be selfish sometimes, with that people-pleaser instinct constantly lurking within me. I really don't like letting other people down, but I have come to the realization that I truly don't do enough for myself. I pile on the activities and it all becomes too much. Even good activities can become overwhelming if there are too many. I need to simplify my life and start taking the time for me. In our world today, I feel like we are all constantly running, always on the move. It's "normal" to have a full schedule and almost seems lazy to sit at home for the evening and just do nothing (at least for me). I feel like we have an added pressure to be busy and with the plethora of functions/clubs/Bible studies/church activities/get-togethers...it's easy to succumb to that pressure. It's easy to get bogged down with a busy schedule and suddenly realize you are running yourself ragged. It's easy to become drained from the race I feel like I am running.

I need renewal. I am burnt-out. I'm taking this as my summer challenge: to just say no. I have a lot of spring activities that are wrapping up soon and I believe the summer will be a perfect time period for me to just rest. I want to relax and give myself the chance to breathe. I want to cut out the clutter from my life that sometimes causes more stress than benefit. It's time for me to do something for me. It's a necessary selfishness that must take place. I need a new focus, on the things that truly matter. I don't know if any of this resonates with you, but if it does, I challenge you to do the same. Take a step back and learn to say "no" sometimes. If we really want to be the best people that we can be, this time of renewal and rest and even selfishness is necessary. I'm learning to start saying "no" to others and "yes" to myself.

From Ordinary to Extraordinary

My life has become so routine. I get up at the same time each day. I have the same work schedule. I eat the same breakfast. I am around most of the same people on a daily basis. The older I get, the more I find myself falling into this repetitive schedule without even thinking about it. Some days I feel discouraged and think, how could God ever use me with this ordinary (almost boring) life I lead? How can God work in the routine, the mundane, and the ordinary? Do you ever feel like your life has to be something extravagant for God to be at work?

When I was in college, I had the opportunity to go on many mission trips. It was one of my favorite things to do because I knew I was going to get a front row seat watching God work and move. I knew I was going to see Him throughout the trip and I was always excited to experience Him through new people and places. I traveled to South Korea for a mission trip after I graduated college and I remember being taken aback by all the beautiful people I had the opportunity to meet and the breathtaking views I was able to see. In those moments, God was so obvious to me. He was there and He was working. I could just feel it and see it each day. I felt important because I was confident that God was using me to positively affect the lives of others.

Unfortunately, my life isn't a constant mission trip. I do not have the opportunity to so obviously see God working on a day-to-day basis, but that doesn't mean that He still isn't working through my everyday circumstances. Why is it that as Christians, we feel like we have to be doing something extravagant like a mission trip to experience God or be to used by Him? I refuse to believe the lie that Satan tells us that we can't be used by God in our everyday lives, that we can't affect the lives of those around us unless we are doing something for Christ in an exaggerated way, that He can't work through the small, unnoticed gestures. We get to thinking why would He be interested in a full-time desk job worker like me? Or a stay-at-home mom? Or a someone who is retired? Or a student just trying to graduate? Because He isn't looking for people who are equipped or qualified. He is looking for people who are willing and available. God will provide the knowledge and ability, if we will just provide ourselves.

You don't have to be doing a ministry-oriented activity to see God and to be used by Him. Your life (every aspect of it) is a ministry in itself and a way for God to work through you and touch the lives of others. God will open up doors and create opportunities where there seem to be none. He has the power to turn your ordinary day-to-day circumstances into something extraordinary. It may not look like a foreign mission trip or a pastor preaching from the pulpit, but that doesn't mean He can't transform the routine into something amazing for His glory. God has the power to work beyond our circumstances. So yes, I do feel like my life is a little mundane sometimes, but I have to keep reminding myself that God is still at work in my life. He will always use me as long as I am willing to be used in any (unconventional) way, shape, or form.