January 5: Writing Prompt #5-Call Me Ishmael

Take the first sentence from your favorite book and make it the first sentence of your post.

     It was in an old box in the basement of my sister’s house in northern Minnesota, wrapped in plastic, mouse-chewed at the edges, dusty gray and yellowing, fly-specked and dirty and tired and brittle. My life.*  I keep thinking that’s what I need to write about…my life- the raw, unvarnished, regrettable parts as well as the beautiful, undeserved blessings of it all, but I am afraid to do so. Writing about my short 39 years would require complete and utter honesty…well, if I truly want it to reach and touch anyone, I would have to stand utterly naked in front of you all, so to speak, and not hold back anything. That’s really freaking scary to me…I don’t want to tell everyone about my mistakes…I don’t want my parents or my church friends or my ex’s to know what I have found myself capable of doing and being outside of the good girl they all know, but I realize that’s what it would take and after all, “the truth will set you free,” at least that’s what my Biblical upbringing tells me.  The times I have felt most free and unburdened were those when I put everything out on the table, so I believe in this, but it’s SO MUCH EASIER to say than to actually do, especially for the whole world to see.  

     I am mostly an introvert when it comes to personal matters. I don’t like to go to parties with loads of people because I am not good at small talk, nor do I care to ever be.  J  It’s a waste of my time….I would rather sit with a close friend in a corner all night and talk about everything under the sun than have to “mingle.” Ugh….it’s excruciating!! So, I write, but up to this point, my writing has stayed introverted as well.  How can I overcome this fear of opening up my life to the world?  I am not sure….but it’s clearly something I need to work toward being more comfortable with.  And for now, this is my start…now you know I have skeletons in my closet just like everyone else…I have made mistakes, but believe they were all meant to be because of the lessons learned from them. I  feel “mouse-chewed, dusty gray, yellowing, dirty, tired, and brittle” at times, but I have found a way to shine again. I have been refined by fire, polished up and made new, and someday it will be time to share…I feel that firmly, but maybe I have a little more life to live first, to finish the story, so I know how best to begin it.  What’s your story and how would you begin it? 

*(First line of this post is an excerpt from the Foreward to Gary Paulsen’s Eastern Sun, Winter Moon-An Autobiographical Odyssey)

January 4: Writing Prompt #4- Quote me

Do you have a favorite quote that you return to again and again? What is it, and why does it move you?

     My favorite quote is a Bible verse from the book of Jeremiah:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

This particular verses pops in my head from time to time, whenever I am unsure of my path, whenever I feel the Lord speaking to me to go forth into a new adventure, but I am afraid to do so…this verse is what keeps me moving forward. Knowing that He (the Lord of all the earth and every creature here) has a plan for me, and it’s a GOOD plan, a plan full of hope and a future; this is enough to assist me in taking whatever leap is necessary to get there.  This verse is what keeps me going….I don’t believe that God is done with me yet. I think there is still more purpose for me in this life, more of His purpose to fulfill. I don’t yet know what or how He will bring his purposes to pass in my life, but I trust that He will, in large part to this verse.  Lately, I am feeling a strong urge or need to serve others, to give back to this world because of His blessings in my life. In fact, it is part of my New Year’s resolutions for 2015, to find that place of service here in my new hometown. So, maybe this is where my whole purpose in life will be fulfilled OR maybe it will just be a starting point, but either way, I know He’s in it. I know he has a plan to prosper me and give me that hope and future where I can “be all that I can be” to coin that catchy Army phrase.  Do you believe God has a plan for you? A good plan? If so, what is it? If you don’t know, would you like to find out? 

January 3: Writing Prompt #3-Kick It

What’s the 11th item on your bucket list?

     The 11^th item on my bucket list??? Well, I guess I better come up with the first 10 items, so I can figure out what the 11^th item is, so here goes:

Susannah’s Bucket List

1. Give something back to the world before I leave it.  

2. Visit and/or live in Germany and relearn the German language I have forgotten since college. 

3. Attend one professional sporting event for every major sport. (So far, I’ve covered hockey, baseball, and soccer…)

4. Go back to Bali and attend another Escape the World Yoga Retreat.

5. Become a yoga instructor for adults and children. 

6. Write and publish a devotional book. 

7. Visit every U.S. National Park I don’t make it to before retirement by motor home or third wheel. 

8. Scuba dive with Manta Rays on the Big Island of Hawaii.

9. Scuba Dive in the Galapagos.

10. Visit and/or live in Japan and learn a little Japanese while there.

11. Teach English as a Second Language to native peoples in foreign countries in my retirement years, seeing the world as I serve others in the process. 

Okay, so my 11^th item on my bucket list will help me fulfill some of my other items on my list, such as living in Germany and Japan, but it’s #11 because I am thinking I will have already, hopefully, accomplished many of my bucket list items before I get to #11. I’ve actually been quite lucky to have several items on my list that I’ve already “checked off,” so to speak, but just want to do again, such as visiting Japan, going to many of the US National Parks, teaching English as a Second Language in the Marshall Islands, going to Bali for a Yoga retreat, attending several professional sporting events…It’s really just about expanding on and completing these “bucket list” items, except for #1. That will be the biggest challenge because I don’t really know yet HOW I am going to accomplish this one…because I don’t know what it is. I don’t know HOW to best be of service to others in this world, but along with my New Year’s resolution to find a way to give back to my community through volunteering, I am hoping that it will become clear soon…maybe it will be through teaching yoga to kids or writing that devotional book, if I am ever able to check those off my list, but it’s okay if it’s something more behind the scenes too…I don’t feel the need to be recognized for it. I just want to know in my heart that I’ve done all I can to give back all the blessings God has given me in this life so far. What can you do to give back? What do you already do? Feel free to share…maybe it will help me with ideas for myself. J   

January 2: Writing Prompt #2-Resolved

Have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution that you kept?

     The only New Year’s resolution that I can remember keeping is reading the Bible all the way through in a year. That happened in 2013.  In conjunction with that, I had hoped to write about my readings each day in 2013, but that part remains unkept.  Despite not having kept the writing part of my resolution, I am proud that I accomplished reading the Bible all the way through. I really enjoyed it and would love to do it again, but for 2015, I do have a couple of new goals in mind. For one, I would like to find a way to be of service to others in my new home state in 2015, whether that be volunteer tutoring at a Boys and Girls Club or being part of a organization that helps the less fortunate in our city, I am not sure yet, but it’s something I am going to start researching when I get back home.  I also want to join one of the weekly running clubs that I discovered within my first few months in WA, but have not gotten my butt out to join yet.  To go along with that, I have the usual goals of health and fitness, including eating better and better and exercising more and more consistently (thus the running club resolution).  And I think that’s enough…when it comes to New Year’s resolutions, I think the less, the better…makes it all more manageable if you are not overloading yourself with a bunch of changes all in the same year. 

What about you? Do you dare post your New Year’s resolutions here for all to see? It might make you more accountable for completing them…at least that’s my motivation! J 

January 1, 2015: Writing Prompt #1-Stroke of Midnight

     Where were you last night when 2014 turned into 2015? Is that where you’d wanted to be?

    Last night, my two boys and I were at a friend’s house in Alabama as 2014 turned into 2015.  Actually, the friend was originally one of my brother’s friends from high school. They have stayed close through college, marriage, etc…My brother and his wife always visit with her and her husband and children when they are in town from North Carolina.  Because they have two boys very close in age to my boys, we started visiting them with my brother a couple of years ago, and now I always make sure to text her when we’re in town.  They are a very gracious and fun-loving couple, always making room for us in their home and lives for the once or twice a year (at most) that we visit.  They even take the boys for fun outings with their family when they are visiting my parents during the summer. It’s funny how life turns out. Unfortunately, I do not pay visits to any of my friends from high school who still reside in my hometown. And yes, that’s my fault because I was so far away for so long, and I really didn’t do my part to keep in touch. Now, I attempt to keep up with my old friends through Facebook, but that’s about all. I never imagined the people I would come to treasure most would be my brother’s friends (and now mine too, of course).  As a young girl, I loved his friends, and when they would come over for his birthday or we were on church youth group trips all together, I always wanted to be around them.  My brother didn’t want me around (what teenager wants their little sister there-I am about 5 years younger, and when you are a child, that’s a huge difference), but his friends were always kind to me.  So, for New Year’s 2014, I would say there’s no place else I wanted to be than with a friend whose known me since I was a girl and has welcomed me right back into her grown up life as if I’d always been her friend right from the start. Thank you for your hospitality, Morris Family! You are a blessing!

Now, it’s your turn, blog readers, where were you on the last night of 2014 and was it where you wanted to be?  J