Day 31: And it's a Wrap!

Today is October 31st, it's Halloween AND it's the last day of the 31 day writing challenge.

Hallelujah!

I didn't write every day. I ended up missing 7 days. I could beat myself up about not having kept to this challenge perfectly but I'm not perfect. While this challenge marched on, life also was marching on. What did I learn about blogging over these 31 days? That's the big question!

I learned that trying to write in a style that others would find interesting is HARD!

I learned that, while I have all of these really interesting ideas floating about my head at all times, it's hard to keep focused and get them down into words on the computer. Words are usually easy for me but blogging about my life and daily events is HARD!

Carving out time in the day to just sit down and write is HARD!

Are you sensing a theme here yet?

BUT, while trying to write my own posts, I have had the opportunity to read many, many posts from fellow Clumsy Bloggers and fellow 31 Days bloggers. These posts have been heart wrenching, funny, serious, informative, amazing, and so varied as the voices of everyone came through on each of their pages. I have found new friends to follow who are sharing their lives, dreams, hopes and fears. What a great experience!

So today I sit here in the sunshine in my writing corner (my recliner in the living room) and look back over the 31 days. I'm glad that I accepted the challenge. I accept that I fell off the wagon and then climbed shakily back up on to finish. I think it's really important to realize that admitting to yourself and others that it was hard vs. just giving up and not finishing is something to celebrate. Now, moving forward, I know that the fact that I was able to write on most days will give me the courage and the motivation to set a writing schedule and keep to it -- especially if it's not 31 days IN A ROW!!! 

The big question is: Will I do this challenge again next year?? We'll see...  Will I still be writing on my blog? Will it improve? Will it increase in followers? Or will it just be a place where I share my stories once in a while? Time will tell. 

For anyone considering doing a challenge like this one - JUST DO IT! It's hard but it's definitely worth it as a growing experience!

For my Cousin Joyce, that book you want me to write is still somewhere inside my head. I'm not sure if I'm up to it just yet. This challenge was sure an eye opener! But I had good company!

Day 29 Our future learns about the Past

Today we had an easy commute to "school" because school was coming to us!

Today the JROTC from our son's school is coming to tour our cemetery. Every year the Corps takes at least one field trip to visit historical military sites to enrich the students' education and lives. These students are our future and they will take time today to learn about those who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives for the freedom of others.

If more students were exposed to this kind of real life history, the world would be a much better place. The next generations would understand the importance of standing up for what you believe in. That's certainly what these young men (and women - yes, there are a few women buried in our cemeteries) did for the people of Europe and the United States. They were young and only starting out in their lives and they were thrown into a war that no one could be prepared for by the little training they received prior to being sent over here.

These young people left behind mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, wives and children. They each had a story. Some of the stories have been recovered and will be shared today. Some of their stories have been lost forever due to the passage of time.

The young people coming to visit today are only a year or two younger than many of those who are buried here in this special place. I'm hopeful that they all learn something about this visit that will stay with them throughout their entire lives. I'm hopeful that the importance of those that came before them impacts them and motivates them to be strong and courageous young men and women of our future.

Day 22: It's all about food! What 50 Euro will buy!

Shopping on a Sunday morning in Belgium is hard to do. I realized I needed to pick up a few things at our neighborhood grocery store. I knew from prior checking that it is only open in the morning but I was glad to see that it was open at all!  Intermarche is a grocery chain and our store recently was remodeled so it is a real treat to go there and see what interesting things I can find to bring home and try.

I was planning to make mussels for lunch and needed to get a baguette so I could have some of it to soak up the yummy broth. I also wanted to get some fresh potatoes and some of their steaks that are cut from Chateaubriand because we've decided they are much better than anything we can buy at the commissary on base. So here is a picture of what 50 Euro will buy you:

You can see the baguette, a bag of soft little sandwich rolls, potatoes, steaks, a wonderful 1.6 kilo roasting chicken, 2 bags of elicoidali shaped pasta, surimi salad, Halloween (!) pumpkin salad and a small bottle of white wine to add to my mussels. The chicken by itself was 12 Euro and the steaks were just under 5 Euro each. If you wonder if it's expensive to shop here, it really isn't.

The chicken is a bit expensive but it was really wonderful! We had it for dinner last night roasted in a pan with potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic - really, really good! It was such an easy dinner to make! I preheated the oven to 400 degrees F. (or 200 C.) and rinsed and dried the chicken placing it in the middle of the roaster and surrounded it with cut up potatoes, carrots, whole garlic cloves and one cut up onion. I doused it all with olive oil and sprinkled on salt and pepper and crushed rosemary. An hour later, it was done and we had a really good dinner. Bear in mind that I got home just before 5 and I assembled this and popped it into the oven and let the oven do most of the work. You could use baby carrots that come already cleaned in the bags but I wanted to have bigger pieces this time. I didn't peel the potatoes so they added a rustic flavor to the dish. I meant to take a picture of it before and after but forgot! It was too yummy to wait and take a picture!

The pasta was used in our dinner on Sunday night. The boys were out on the golf course in the misty rain all morning long and, when they got home, I made them a big pot of pasta with prosciutto. They were very happy to dive into that!  I take butter and melt it in a pot with diced onions and get them all nice and tender and then add the cut up or torn up prosciutto and stir that around. Then I add about a cup of chicken broth to that to give it some body and then add it to the cooked and drained pasta mixing it thoroughly and adding parmesan cheese as I mix it. It's an easy dinner and really delicious.

The surimi and pumpkin salads are for my lunch this week. The surimi I've had before and it's one of my favorites. I haven't tried the Halloween pumpkin salad yet. It's the first time I've seen this here and I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not. It says it has pumpkin, viande (meat - but what kind???) and mais (corn). It might be good, and it might not. I'll let you know! But here's a picture of it because I couldn't make things like this up!

I really like shopping at our local stores. You can pick up local foods that aren't available at the commissary that make living in Europe interesting. Why just eat the same old food you can get anywhere in the U.S. when you can choose from wonderful things at the deli or get different cuts of meat (like the chateaubriand) or try different cuts of meat like veal (never available at the commissary), unusual sausages (merguez, artisanale, etc.), duck breasts (so good broiled), lamb and rabbit. All of these are available already wrapped and ready to take home. It makes cooking an adventure and opens up all sorts of recipes that you might not try otherwise!

Bon appetit!

Day 21 on Day 24... Blogging Clumsily

On September 6, I signed up for the Clumsy Bloggers Workshop based on the recommendation of Jen Hatmaker.  For those who have already read some of her books or have followed her blog or her page on Facebook, you will know that she is like your favorite girlfriend talking to you and sharing stories about life and faith. She's funny and irreverent and serious all at the same time. She's real!

Well, here we are, nearing the end of October and also one week away from the end of the 31 day writing challenge. I don't know if I've made progress or not in my writing but I do know that the workshop and the support of fellow Clumsies have really encouraged me and helped me feel like I can do this thing. I still don't feel like my posts are as well written as most that I see but I don't feel like giving up. When we share questions and thoughts and posts on the Facebook page, we get great feedback which is really helpful as we go along this journey. We are all clumsy in one way or another and this group of people have helped to smooth the path a bit.

The workshop itself is great! I'm glad I signed up for it. You receive a section each week via email to focus on in order to improve your blog. Micah has organized it in a way that it isn't too much to handle or understand and you can get through it in one week easily. For those of us who are balancing family and work and this thing we like to do, it is just right in length and you have the time you need to sit with your blog and tweak it and work towards a better product.

I am running behind on the 31 Day writing challenge but have good company with a few others who are still fighting the good fight and making an effort to try to get caught up and be able to say that we could do this thing. Following through and completing a task like this is a lot like climbing a mountain.

Step by step, handhold by handhold we go up the mountain. Inch by inch, foot by foot we are gaining on the goal at the end - the peak of the mountain or the last day of the month which is also Halloween. I have a feeling that many of us who have undertaken this challenge will be celebrating that we made it .... TO THE END!

Day 20 Faith and the Mustard Seed

Day 20 was Tuesday and I didn't post a thing that day but I will consider this post Tuesday's and continue writing until I can finally shout:

Hallelujah it's the 31st!!!

Last week I talked about the book Simply Tuesday. I like things to follow a theme so this Tuesday post will be a little about what was shared so far in the book.  As I was reading along, I came upon a section around page 32 about the kingdom of God being one inch above the ground (a different concept than what we usually think of, right?).

FYI -- I live in Belgium and have been living in Europe continuously since 2001. In Europe, you will see large fields of these beautiful yellow flowers. They are breathtaking even when the skies are gray which happens a lot more than when they are blue. We didn't know what these flowers were at first but finally asked someone and were told that they are rapeseed and the crops are an important source for vegetable oil.  If you Google "rapeseed" you will find out that it is also known as oilseed rape and is in the mustard or cabbage family. In the book, they talk about this little white house off of Highway 38 and there is a rapeseed crop that surrounds this little house. The author used this picture in her mind of this home surrounded by yellow and decided that the kingdom of God surrounds her just like this crop did with the house. It is a good visual to help you think about life around you and God's kingdom.

This led me to thinking about mustard seeds and how tiny they are. Here's a picture of just one little mustard seed in a glass container. It is really small. Of course, many of us have heard the story of faith the size of a mustard seed being all that you need. That amount of faith is sufficient to please God.

The definition of the word "Faith" is 1) allegiance to duty or a person; fidelity to one's promises; sincerity of intentions; 2) belief and trust in and loyalty to God; belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion; firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust; and 3) something that is believed especially with strong conviction, especially: a system of religious beliefs.

The disciples questioned Jesus after he healed a boy who had been afflicted with seizures. The disciples weren't able to heal the boy but Jesus could. They said "Why couldn't we drive it out?" and he replied:

"You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." Matthew 17:20 NLT

If you look at the definition of Faith again, you will see that it means "fidelity to one's promises." We all know that it is so important to keep your promises. People are relying on us to keep our word. Well, human beings are fallible but God always keeps his promises. His love for us is never ending. What a great feeling!

So often we are faced with situations where we don't have enough faith or trust in God to make it through a challenge or struggle. If we can only remember the tiny mustard seed and give the struggle to God, He will give us an answer on how to move forward. All we need to do is muster faith the size of a mustard seed and give it up to God. He makes all things possible.

I'm going to use that faith and continue working at this promise I made to myself to continue writing every day this month to complete the challenge. Now where did that little mustard see go???????? 

Day 19 Hope

Hope. Hope is a noun that means longing; dream

It's Monday. It's the start of a new week.

It's a good feeling, if you start out feeling hopeful. Mondays can be hard days to conquer. We have to get back to our normal routine and walk away from the peace and relaxation we had over the weekend. Many do not like Mondays for those reasons.

We have a choice in our lives -- will we be optimistic or pessimistic?

I think hope is an optimistic thing and I'd much rather be positive than negative. My choice is hope and optimism.

What are you longing for? Are you longing to be happy? Are you longing to have less stress in your life? Have hope and give these longings to God.

If you have hope, you feel expectant. You anticipate good things with a belief that they will come to you. You have a confident faith in God that he has good plans for your days.

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. 

Psalm 119:114

If you put Monday's hope in God's hands, you will find good things waiting for you. God has your back and he loves you.

I'm doing it today -- will you?

Day 18 Volunteers are Important!

Volunteers are important!  So many groups are made up entirely of volunteers. We have groups at our school like the Booster Club for sports and the Elementary PTO and Middle/High School PTA. In the community, we have American Spouses' Club and the International Spouses' Club. There are also Lodges, church groups and Boy and Girl Scouts. All of these groups are run by volunteers.

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Why am I talking about this you might ask? Well, back in 2004, I started volunteering with PTA at our school in the South of France. That was the start of something big. It was bigger than me and it lit a fire that started as a glimmer and eventually was a roaring bonfire. Before this time, I worked full-time as a legal secretary and didn't have much free time on my hands.

I never knew what hit me! I enjoyed being involved and making a difference and helping make things happen at the school. Little did I know where it would all lead. I made friends, really great people who came from so many different places -- far from my hometown. I played flute with my friend, Nicole, on accordion at our Spring Fair - it was so much fun and I can see her smile and hear her telling me how I "played well from the paper" (she is German and meant sightreading). This was just the start.

We moved back North to the Netherlands and darned if they didn't need help with the Elementary PTA. I started out as Secretary and almost immediately slid into the President's chair due to a glitch (thanks Carmen!). Three years later and I finally took off that hat. Meanwhile, I was on the board of PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) which is a fantastic women's ministry which I talked about before. I made so many good friends there and across Europe just by volunteering a bit of my time. Actually, it was a lot of time but it was a labor of love so it didn't seem like so much. Our son was in Cub Scouts and they needed a little help so I did what I could from time to time including being secretary on our council. Taking minutes isn't a job, right?  The end result of this period of time was getting a plaque for being Family Member of the Year which really meant I put in a lot of hours for our community, for our kids, for our ladies and for myself. It was a good investment. All of these things were important and had a lot of value. Our volunteer hours have value. They are priceless!

The programs that are run by volunteers are really important! They fill in the holes that are left from cuts in our military programs overseas. They also provide rich opportunities for our children and family members to have while living far from home. Some programs also have charitable missions which give those who participate a chance to help others. These opportunities are limited when we live in a small military community in a foreign country. Often it is hard to find people to volunteer because so many times people volunteer in more than one group. This is common in a small community and contributes to the problem of feeling burnt out from the work. It happens...

But why am I talking about volunteering?  

Well, the reason I'm able to blog these 31 days is because I am now free of all of those volunteer jobs. I am finally not on any boards, not teaching Sunday School or leading any evening programs. I'm just being a wife and mom, driving 500 miles a week to school/work and trying to find my way in the world of blogging. It's a season of rest from outside involvement. I have a feeling I'm not done volunteering, yet. But for now, I'm taking a break and taking time to smell the roses and appreciate some time to ponder the good things in life!