Working the Bliss

Joseph Campbell almost had it right when he said, “Follow your bliss.” The book of Nehemiah in the Bible says, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10 ESV) Joy is a great motivator. The joy that the Lord gives outlasts happiness. Even in an unhappy or trying moment, the joy of the Lord gets me through. Just when I think I can’t carry on, there the Holy Spirit is encouraging me. It was for joy that I began my writing journey many months ago. I have finished the rough draft of my first book. Now it feels like the real work has begun. It is slow going at the moment. I have the desire to make this project something worth other people reading. I can blame my sluggish editing on life. My two little joys are on their summer break. We’ve had family and friends’ birthdays, play dates, beach day, swimming, and trips to the library for our summer reading. We even went bowling which I haven’t done in a long time! It’s been fun and exhausting and non stop. I am also looking for a part time job as my younger child will be in school full time in September. I will miss being a full time parent, but it is a natural progression. My children love school. It will be good for me to pursue my dreams as well. I would like to make them proud and be a good example. I don’t want this book or my writing to get lost. The real dream is to combine my working life with my bliss! Anyone hiring writers? Call me up! And yet it’s not just writing for me. I want to use my talents to give God glory, to help and encourage people. I want to share the love of Jesus and if I can do that through my writing than I will be one blissful lady!

And that leads me back to my editing block. Writing is rewriting. I am facing a block of my own fear. This is the bummer part. Self doubt comes to steal my joy. I started to re-read my rough draft and I just kept thinking is this good enough? Will a reader find this interesting? Am I making any sense? I started questioning the whole book. Now I am procrastinating. I don’t want to face the nasty “good enough”fairy. While avoiding the work today, I read a Bible study by Joyce Meyer. I am laughing at myself now because the title is literally, “Are you asking for help?” Palm to face moment! The other subtitle is, “Not in Your Own Strengthen!” Sometimes God has to speak loud to get my attention. In all caps with lots of exclamation points!!! Can anyone else relate? The scripture that hooked me was, “For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.” –Philippians 2:13 (AMP) God gave me the longing to write. He gave me the idea in the first place. He will work through me to complete His purpose. I need only to ask for His help. I ask God to energize me and guide me as I edit and re-write this book. I must remember the joy. What joy will it be if I can encourage even just one reader? And so, I will drink a little more coffee and find those moments to myself to write. It is worth the work when I do it in God’s strengthen. I hope that you can follow the joy of the Lord and the purpose He has placed on your heart today.

Trying to look professional…

Summer Reading List

Summer is practically here! One of my favorite things about this time of year is coming up with a list of books to read. I used to love my summer reading when I was in school. Now I get to pick the books. I may not get through all of them, but it is still fun to try. This year I have two reading buddies. My kids Ivy and Albert will be joining the challenge. They love going to the library and picking out new books. I have already started reading to them one of our summer picks, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. If we can finish that one together, then we will read Matilda by Roald Dahl. I’m excited for Ivy and Albert to hear these stories for the first time. I will also get to re-live them and enjoy them all over again.

My grown up reading list looks a little different. I would love to get lost in a good book as I sit out back in the sun. However, I will have the kids to entertain, all my chores, and writing projects to keep up. So many books, so little time! I have promised myself a good read as a reward for finishing the rough draft of my book. That title will be at the top of my list. Here goes:

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Breathe Devotional by multiple authors

The Abbey Mystery by Julia Golding (Tween fiction research. By research I mean fun!)

Amazed by Jesus by Simon Ponsonby

Finding the Peacemakers by Dan Morrice

I still have a lot of work to do before I can begin. I can’t wait. My list is a nice mix of fiction, Bible study, and non-fiction. Do you make a summer reading list? What have you picked this year? I would love to swap titles. If you don’t have a list or have never made one up for yourself, I hope you feel inspired. My goal is to never stop learning. We learn so much from exploring a good story or studying someone else’s experiences. It’s how I like to beat the summer heat!

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  My reading buddies.

“O Come, O come, Emmanuel”

It is only the fifth morning on our Advent calendar. We already have our Christmas tree up and our house decorated since last weekend. It is a bit early for me but the children were so excited. Their joy is infectious! It snowed yesterday before school and they were thrilled to get out into the cold to explore the almost winter wonderland.

After a long difficult year, aren’t we all ready for a magical Christmas? This year I want childlike joy for the holidays. And not just for the lights, food, and gifts. I want child like joy for Emmanuel, “God is with us.” Jesus. God humbled himself and came to humanity to be one of us to make a way for us to be with Him. The holy God of the universe wants to be nearme! He wants to be near you! I don’t want to miss it this year. I want to enjoy the celebrations, the family time and yet still take time to reflect.

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” is a well known hymn. One you may have heard or sung many times. The beauty, truth and mystery of Jesus can sometimes get lost in the familiarity of the Christmas story. Since this is an odd year and we can’t get out as much, my friend and I decided to read a Lifeway Advent study named after this carol, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” I am only a few days into the book and already I can see the benefits of just taking a few minutes to ponder the events of the first Christmas. I feel more peaceful and more aware of His presence. I pray that you will also feel that Emmanuel is near you this season.

It’s not too late to plug into an Advent study. If you are interested in what Lifeway has to offer, check out this website: https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/o-come-o-come-emmanuel-P005826668

Mitchell family Christmas tree!

Happy Thanksgiving

We really have a lot to be thankful for this year. I was happy to celebrate Thanksgiving with our family of four and my family in America through video chats. I also enjoyed introducing our kids to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Our joys are shadowed by Covid 19 and the events of this year. But I really believe a thankful heart is a happy heart. We are healthy and safe. We have each other. We are far from loved ones and may have to wait a long time to see them in person. I am thankful for the technology that brings us together. Of course we are always in each other’s hearts.

Yummy Thanksgiving dinner!

Bonfire Night

Last night, November 5, 2020, was Bonfire Night. My American understanding of this day is that it is a celebration of the democracy that Parliament represents for England. The fact that someone tried to blow it all away and was stopped is really important. My kids just wanted to light sparklers. Fireworks went off in the sky over our neighborhood. The children were very excited at first to see the explosion of colors. Unfortunately, our little one got very frightened by the loud booming noises. I comforted him and we distracted the kids with our little sparkler attempt in the back garden. Our younger one was not at all interested now. Our older daughter tried a sparkler after I showed her how to hold it. The appeal didn’t last long and off to bed they went though unable to sleep for a bit. I can relate. The spark for many of us has fizzled out quickly this year. Hiding under the bed covers sounds like a good idea to me!!

It was also the first day of our second lock down. This time feels a little more manageable as the children will still go to school. We’ve only had two months back at Church and Sunday club. We will miss meeting in person and replace it again with Zoom meetings. Our extra activities such as swimming for both kids and ballet for our older one will stop/move online. Socially distanced play dates, meet ups, and coffee dates must halt. It’s as if someone is trying to ruin our fun. But it is important to fight this virus. Protecting each other is the most important thing right now.

This pandemic has been an eye opener for me. An unwanted mirror. Am I capable of putting others first? Am I really this selfish? Our younger son who is three said at dinner earlier this week, “I love you, Mummy, so much! But I don’t love the virus.” I had to really keep it together as I looked into his big green eyes. I reassured him that I loved him and that we will look after each other. That is what we need to do as a community. With these darker, longer Autumn and Winter nights, let’s light a sparkler for each other!

Autumn Refresh

October is here and moving fast. If you have read any of my blog posts, you know that I love this season. I love the orange, red, and yellow of the changing leaves. I love the crisp cool Autumn air. I love pumpkin spice everything and I don’t care who knows it. I love cuddling up with a coffee and a good book. Autumn brings back memories of starting school; freshly sharpened pencils, that new book smell, and walking to school through the fallen leaves. As it is a new season (and my favorite in case you got distracted), it is also a new season in my life.

My kids are in the groove of a new school year. Our little one does mornings in nursery class. I have a little more time now. My husband surprised me with a refurbished notebook laptop. When I opened the box, I cried. This is the perfect tool to help me move forward with writing. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to write. It’s never too late in life to follow a dream. As a shaking vote of confidence in myself, I am removing the “Would Be” part of the title of this blog. I am a writer. I have to give it my best or I’ll always wonder. I feel humbled. I hope to find an audience of readers. I hope to have good ideas or be able to refresh some old ones in an interesting way. So, watch this space for more blog posts and other projects.

The world is going mad and this post may seem a little out of place. I am not glazing over the suffering around me. I feel a bit helpless about it all. I pray. I don’t know what else to do, but try to let my light shine. I want to put a positive message out there. If you have a dream or something you have always wanted to try, please do it! Life moves too fast. If you don’t try, you will always wonder. We need your light.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 NIV

Albert, Ivy, and me in the Autumn groove.

End of Summer Revelations

Have you ever heard of “Cotton Candy” grapes? (Candy floss for my U.K. friends.) I have discovered them by accident from my local Aldi’s. They are amazing and sweet yummy grapes that taste exactly like cotton candy. I highly recommend them. My other fantastic find this summer was an eco friendly detangling hairbrush. I call it mummy’s magic hairbrush! It has changed my daughter Ivy’s hair and made the process a lot less painful. (See pictures below.)

So why am I talking about grapes and hairbrushes? Well I don’t know exactly except that this summer was unusual and we stayed home. Staying home has been the theme of this year. It hasn’t all been bad. We’ve had a lot more time for each other. More time to taste the grapes and find hairbrushes!

I honestly thought his would be a bummer summer. No faraway holiday. No splash parks or pools. It was a restricted summer, but also fun. We had play dates in parks and play grounds. We tried tent camping at a working farm in our own county. It was great. The nature was beautiful and we conquered the tent poles and pegs! I watched my kids have new experiences and build confidence. We had days out to the nearest seaside and to a real castle with B.C. history. Our world may have felt smaller but no less interesting. What have I learned from this experience? Simplicity. All we need is time together and a good picnic.

No joke! Naturally sweet grapes.

As we head straight into our new school routine, I hope to keep some of this simplicity with me. It will be a busy Autumn season of new experiences for all of us. My oldest will be moving into year one and my youngest will begin nursery. I am excited for my children and how much they will learn and grow in the next few months. I will miss them, but hope our time together will be all the more precious.

Mummy’s magic hairbrush.

My Heart Runneth Over…

Ivy’s first pony ride.

Our Ivy Grace is five years old today! How did that happen? The time has gone by so quickly. To say I am proud of her is just not enough. Ivy is a funny sweet smart determined little person. She is caring and thoughtful. When I asked what she wanted to be when she grows up she said, “A mummy.”

We were excited for Ivy to have her first pony ride and lesson today. The instructor was good and Ivy took to it very well. She is so confident and unassuming. I have no real words of wisdom. I’m not even sure I’m good at this job. I just love being her mother. My heart is full and bursting. My heart runneth over.

Egg Carton Owls and Other Thoughts

My favourite craft that the kids and I created during home school is the egg carton snowy owl. I might have enjoyed making these a little more then the kids. We used little sections of tissue paper to represent the feathers. The glue itself is instant entrainment for them. Sometimes I just don’t feel like doing crafts. For all the paint, tape, toilet rolls, markers, and mess that covers the dining room table, it may only amount to 10 minutes of activity. It’s exhausting. But my little ones love it! They get to stretch their creative muscles and make many choices. They get so much out of cutting and pasting bits and pieces together. We’ve moved on now to Science experiments. I mean I am about to willingly buy glitter, white vinegar, and food colouring all so my kids can make an exploding frothy potion go basically everywhere. This is a house keeping disaster. But to see my kiddos faces light up and know their minds are being blown as they learn a little about the world around them… It’s worth it.

Snowy Owls

I have a few other projects lined up this summer which includes clearing out the guest room, utility room, and my car. All of these tasks, if completed, will make my husband a very happy man. I don’t really relish organising things, but it needs to be done. These mundane things really do matter if you can make a loved one feel better. Especially now when the situation we are in is so uncertain. If I am struggling to smile, I’ve recently learned that making someone else smile makes all the difference. Bible teacher and writer, Joyce Meyer, says when you have a problem, “trust God and do good.” I think she is absolutely right. When I am tempted to wallow in my own troubles (and it is tempting to do so) I try to encourage someone else. I also ask for help. I ask my friends to pray with me. Neither of these things are easy to do, but the benefits are so worth it. Instantly, my focus is off of me. Now I’m free for God to show me how I can help someone else. Putting other people first is what it is all about and ironically, brings me joy too.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

It Starts at Home

A good friend of mine said, “Blog!” So, here we go. I’m not sure how we got from March to June without an update. It’s been a whirling merry-go-round of home schooling, coffee, playing, clapping, Zoom chats, reading together, time outs, baking bread, laughter, singing, living room dance parties, news briefings, tears, projects, daily walks, scooters, scavenger hunts, den building, shopping wearing masks, watching SGN, not sleeping, going back to sleep and wearing stretchy comfy clothes around the clock. We’ve had virtual birthdays and virtual date nights. Sadly, we’ve had one virtual memorial. We are tired.

As things slowly open up again, we look for normality. This week our bubble world changes. Our oldest child returns to school on Thursdays and Fridays. It will be a good change for her and everyone. I’m pleased we still have three days of home schooling together. We will miss her. The virus is still a threat, but I have faith that the school’s staff are doing all they can to minimise infection.

We made our own pizzas.

Though physically we have kept our distance, in some ways we are closer to people than ever. How could we not let others into our hearts with so much sickness and loss around us? And there is another virus which has plagued our society for too many years. We have watched the brutality and racism play out before us in the news. Often I feel helpless. What can I do? How can I show love and respect for my fellow humans in pain and fear and righteous anger? So I pray. I examine myself and ask God to search my heart, bring to light my own prejudices and bias. I try to educate myself.

In outrage, I share stories. I raise awareness amongst my friends and family. I realise my greatest power for change starts right here in my home. I teach my children to love and include people. I teach them that we are all made in God’s image. We are all worthy of love, respect, equal rights and freedom. No one should have to live in fear for their lives for the colour of their skin. I ask for wisdom. I vote and stand up for justice as much as possible. I draw near to God and as His word says, He draws near to me. (James 4:8)

If you are feeling overwhelmed or powerless in these difficult and uncertain times, draw near to the Source. Draw near to the light that is Jesus.