Good morning, Ladies. I know I use this picture a lot but it's one of my fave and I think it fits today perfectly. You'll see why at the end of this (short) post.
And can I just hear an "All right, Nancy!" for posting on a day that's not even SCHEDULED? I mean, how 'bout THAT? Just sayin . . .
Anyway, I've been reading your responses to yesterday's post and feeling an even stronger nudge to do this worry series. PAIGE came up with the original idea, and all of you who have commented have begun to shape it in my mind. So in essence, YOU are planning it, and I thought it made sense to keep you, well, posted!
Here's what we have so far in terms of the topics you worry about (and specifics were okay, RACHEL; besides, none of us ever expects YOU to be "succint." Tee-hee!)The number next to each is how many times it was mentioned in a comment:
SCHOOL 10
THE FUTURE 12
RELATIONSHIPS 11
TIME 3
ACTIVITIES 2
WHAT OTHERS THINK 5
SELF-IMAGE/APPEARANCE 7
SPIRITUALITY 6
HEALTH 3
THE PAST 2
Let's proceed this way:
1. If you haven't posted your areas of worry, please do. You can vote for the ones on the list that apply to you and/or add new ones. Just start your comment with THIS IS MY FIRST LIST
2. If you've already posted but an item(s) on the list is one you now realize you do worry about, post that/them in a comment. Just start your comment with THIS IS AN ADD-ON
Meanwhile, since there are 10 topics listed and I don't really want to omit any of them, I'll be thinking of ways we might combine some of them. I actually think TIME and SPIRITUALITY will be woven throughout. We'll see.
Just make sure I hear from you by 2:00 p.m. Ash Wednesday (tomorrow), U.S. Central Time
I am SO eager to get started on this with all of you -- the "regulars", those of you who haven't psoted in a while, and those who are new -- welcome MARLEE!!! This series is huge, so please know that I'm praying about it as I prepare. I hope you'll do the same, which leads us to . . .
3. Please pray for God's guidance in this journey toward Him. If you want to post your prayer, that would be lovely. If not, that's okay too. I'm going to be thinking of all of you as if you're in that prayer circle in the picture above -- joining hands as sisters in Christ in an adventure of freedom.
OH, and a fun thing: today is Shrove Tuesday, the last day before Lent begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday. It's traditional to feast on crepes -=- in the U.S. we lean more toward pancakes. We're having a small gathering tonight so we can eat my husband's which are the best ANYWHERE. Baby Maeryn will eat no other, as we found out during a minor meltdown at Cracker Barrel a few weeks ago when she refused what they served her because they were not, "Papa's cakes." You can't blame her.
Blessings,
Nancy Rue
This is an add on:
Time-I worry that I waste too much time and yet I don't know how to use it well.
Posted by: Miriam | 02/12/2013 at 12:31 PM
This is an add on:
What if we combine past and future and add on time?
Just a thought :) Can't wait for the series to begin!
Posted by: Paige | 02/12/2013 at 03:23 PM
Hi, I'm new here... this is my first list.
I do worry about getting behind in school, since I'm homeschooled.
I worry about relationships, too. And whether people like me or not especially. I worry about whether I waste most of my time and what I should be doing differently. And I tell God that I'm worried and I ask for peace, but sometimes I feel like I don't get peace, even though I'm crying out for it. So this is definitely something that has been on my mind lately... I'd love to stop worrying and live free.
Posted by: Margaret | 02/12/2013 at 05:33 PM
Add on: I also worry about time, I know I don't use mine properly and I get stressed out when I don't have enough of it.
Posted by: Therese | 02/12/2013 at 06:18 PM
This is my first list
I worry about the future and what I'm going to do with my life. I also worry about wasting time. I have GSCE (general certificate of secondary education which is basically what employers look for when you apply for a job) choices to make soon and I start the work next school year. I've done well in the exams I have sat in secondary school in all the subjects but I don't really revise for them. I just can look over it a couple of times then remember it. For GSCE I that won't work and a lot of the subjects I want to do you have to write essays which I hate. I guess that ties in with school. I also worry about school, pier pressure, friends etc
Posted by: Amy | 02/12/2013 at 07:01 PM
heres my add on :)
spirituality
feelings... idk numbed them so much during that three months before moving here i barely feel them anymore. and that scares and frusterates me.
decision making. a. lot. im AWFUL at doing it.
appearence
health- i worry way too much about that... to the point it's funny.
also, i was at the Christian bookstore today and looking at devotionals... I wanted to get one but I never know if they're any good or really basic, etc, you know? So I was wondering if we could complie a list of ones we like (perhaps in an extra mini-post???)... Id love suggestions, girls, and Mrs Rue (do you have any authors you would reccoment to us/ authors you know who are similar to you?) thanks!!
xxx
Posted by: Kate | 02/12/2013 at 09:00 PM
Hi, Margaret! Welcome :) I'm home-schooled too, and totally get what you mean! School can be really stressful.
Add on: Sometimes I do get stressed out about my spirituality. Usually when I'm really busy and don't have as much time to spend having devotions, or when I'm facing a huge challenge and have no clue what the Lord is doing-- trying to figure out God's will for specific situations or choices can also add to my stress level.
Really looking forward to these new topics-- it's going to be amazing :)
Praying for the Lord to guide each one of us as we start on this new adventure!
Posted by: Sasha | 02/12/2013 at 09:00 PM
Welcome Margaret! Glad to have you here!
Kate- I LOVE Susie Shellenberger's devo books. So fantastic.
Posted by: Paige | 02/12/2013 at 11:28 PM
Hey :) I don't generally consider myself a worrier but I'm sure that once I get the ball rolling it'll be hard for me to stop. Like with any other subject.
So, here we go... things I worry about, right? I just skim-read this post and the comments - hope I'm on the right track! Heck, I really need and WANT to come on here more. Discuss things more.
I worry about what other people think about me. I worry about being disliked; I have never had someone dislike me that I know of in my life, and I purposely try to avoid it. It'll be an interesting experience when I get my first outright me-hater, which I guess'll come along eventually. I worry when my dad books a dentist appointment, so it's better if he only tells me like, the day before. But sometimes, it's more like three months before. And then it's at the back of my mind for three months.
I get worried and stressed when it comes to planning. I'm organized, and don't do that well when I don't know what's going on. Like right now it's the silliest thing, but tomorrow till Sunday I'm going to visit my 'big sis' (quotation marks because we're not blood-related, haha...), and then Thursday till Sunday the week after I'm at a retreat, and the week after that I'm on a mission, and so - obviously - the biggest worry on my mind right now is: WHEN WILL I GET MY HAIR CUT!?! Hahaha, and my hair dresser won't pick up her phone so I'm like; will it be tomorrow? Tuesday? Wednesday? I need to know, because I need to know what school to do, and I need to let my Big Sis know when I'll be there tomorrow, and then I need to think totally ahead of the next three weeks because by then I should have arranged some places to go into and do presentations with this team I have, plus my friend's hopefully hoppin' over from where she's at right now in Brazil but the flights aren't booked yet. And stuff like that. I can never really drop things like that, because I feel like I'll just forget important stuff. I do write things down... but my notes piiiile up.
I worry about my future and whether I'll be successful in the world's eyes, God's eyes, and my own eyes. I worry I won't be happy or that I've missed my chances with some things - like certain relationships....... yeah, that's a big worry. I still miss my boyfriend, which is the most annoying thing, because we only dated for seven months and we broke up a flippin' nine-or-so months ago. So, that sucks.
I worry I'll lose the people who are in my life at the moment. I always seem to be losing people.
I worry that I won't be able to pass my exams because I'm completing my school in a rush due to problems (distance-learning = UGH.)
And then I won't be able to get into the University I want. If I want to go to Uni at all. Which is another worry.
Because I like to do so much, and I don't want to miss out on anything. And sometimes I want to study Sociology, and then I want to own a cafe, and then I want to save slaves in Moldova, and then I want to be totally self-sufficient and have this little farm thingie. And it doesn't make sense.
I worry about my parents, and my sisters, and the people I love.
I worry about my relationship with God, which has been - I wouldn't say bad - but reaaalllllyyyy stretched, painfully, over the last so-long, and I'm not quite sure where that is going. I feel like it'll either hit a "YEAH!" point where I'll end up loving God and being whoop-whoop for Christianity forever, or I'll just lose it all. And I don't really know which way it's going to go.
I worry, because I have so much in me that I want to give, but I don't know how to give it.
I worry that I'll never find someone who I can be thoroughly me with and who will understand me totally. Except maybe, God. I think so much about everything... and I have so many thoughts that most of my friends have never come near to thinking, and I feel like I have so many friends who think we're really close but I know I don't share half of anything with.
In fact, most of this stuff is probably the first time it's been blurted out, which is why I'm super surprised at how messed-up I've ended up sounding. Essh.
I may need to come on here more often...
Oh, and Mrs Rue, if you ever travel over to ANYWHERE in the Europe-ish area.... you need to let me know ;)
B.
Posted by: Bethan | 02/13/2013 at 08:53 AM
Oh ma word. For someone who 'doesn't worry'....
Wow.
I won't get offended if nobody reads that, heh. ;D
Posted by: Bethan | 02/13/2013 at 08:53 AM
This is my first list -
1. School (completing assignments on time)
2. The future (both what I'm doing this summer and what am I doing when I grow up)
3. Physical appearance (right now it's trying to lose weight)
4. Not saying anything awkward/stupid
5. Not letting dance define me, because I'm afraid that one day it'll suddenly go away and then I'll think I'm a nobody. But without letting myself say "I'm a dancer" I feel really lost.
WELCOME Margaret!!!!! I'm homeschooled too :D
Posted by: Abby:) | 02/13/2013 at 10:55 AM
I just want to express how gosh darn thankful I am for this blog. I have been feeling SUPER distant from God lately, and I certainly haven't been keeping up on these blog posts. I finally took the time tonight to sit down and read all of the posts I missed through and I feel great. I'm going to an Ash Wednesday service soon and I think after that i will be back on track again. Thanks so much Nancy, for every single post you write, because it helps all of us girls in some way, every time. I'm so glad to be caught up now and I'm very very excited for our series coming up! Prayers for all of you wonderful girls!!!!!!
Blessings,
Olivia
Posted by: *Olivia* :) | 02/13/2013 at 08:15 PM