It’s a vlog! Caffeinated Conversations have made an appearance once again…
Caffeinated Conversations {04.29.11}
Links mentioned in the vlog:
Monthly Archives: April 2011
From the Heart: Finding Our Bliss {a guest post}
Today’s guest post comes from Becky Beaupre Gillespie and Hollee Schwartz Temple. These lovely ladies are the authors of Good Enough Is the New Perfect: Finding Happiness and Success in Modern Motherhood
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What makes you feel alive — and do your choices reflect that?
That was the question we had to learn to ask ourselves, because there were times when each of us woke up in the morning and dreaded going to work. Especially once we became moms.
We’d thought we could Have It All, and then we’d staggered beneath the weight of a shocking reality:
Fitting work and motherhood can be difficult and draining, especially if your job fails to stir your passion.
And so we wrote a book about working motherhood, because that did stir our passions.
This is what we learned: Our happiness as modern moms depends on our willingness to define success on our own terms, to create paths that are based on our own passions and priorities and expectations — and nobody else’s. We don’t have to feel guilty for doing what feels right, we don’t have to be “perfect,” and we don’t have to compare ourselves to other women. It is OK to be who we are.
And it’s also possible to Have It All — if we create an “All” that we love.
So we ask you: What makes you feel alive — and do your choices reflect that? Leave a comment below…
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Becky Beaupre Gillespie and Hollee Schwartz Temple are the authors of Good Enough Is the New Perfect: Finding Happiness and Success in Modern Motherhood, which is available at http://amzn.to/newperfect
Links above to Amazon.com are affiliate links.
Related posts:
3in30 Weekly Linkup {April 2011 – Week Five}
As we mentioned at the beginning of the month, April brought some changes to the 3in30 Challenge. This week we say “good-bye” to Meghan, and we say “hello” to the new home of the 3in30 Challenge.
Meghan has been an integral part of helping the 3in30 Challenge to run smoothly over the past four months. The 3in30 Challenge isn’t going to be the same without her. We will definitely miss having her as a co-hostess, and we wish her the best as she refocuses her attention on other great projects!
With Meghan’s transition away from the 3in30 Challenge, it was time for the challenge to have a home of its own. Today, we’d like to invite you in to our new home…
Take a look around and let us know what you think! {If you find something that is “broken,” be sure to shoot us an email so we can fix it!} We’ll start hosting the weekly linkups there next week!
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As we mentioned a few weeks ago, ListPlanIt has been our April 3in30 Challenge sponsor. We had a great time at our Twitter party on Tuesday night, learning more about ListPlanIt and how their products can help us better accomplish our 3in30 goals!
Thanks to ListPlanIt, we also have some great prizes to give away as part of this week’s linkup.
To enter, simply fill out an entry form (one entry per person) here before Sunday (5/1) at 11:59pm CDT.
We’ll announce the winners on the 3in30 blog on Monday! {Winners will be drawn at random from all entries received. Prizes supplied by ListPlanIt.}
We’ll be giving away ONE Print Membership and FOUR ePlanners!
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We want to encourage you to encourage others this week through our link up – make sure to stop by at least one other blog that is listed below in the link up and share the love!
{For those new to the 3in30 Challenge, we have a weekly linkup that goes live on Thursday nights at 10pm EST and continues through Sunday at 1am EST. If you don’t have a blog, or don’t want to post on your blog, feel free to just comment on the linkup post with your progress for the week!}
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Since we’re at the end of the month, be sure to share how the month of April has gone and list your goals for the month of May!
How Do You Link Up?
- Write a blog post sharing your goal progress, and add the direct link to your post (not your blog’s home page) below.
- Comment on at least the person above you in the link up, and let them know you’re coming by from 3in30.
Looking to stay connected?
- Add the 3in30 button to your blog. {You can find the code on either hostess’ blog.}
- “Like” the 3in30 Challenge Facebook Page
- Follow @3n30 on Twitter
Got questions? We’d love to hear them! Email us: threeinthirty (at) gmail (dot) com
Related posts:
Blogging Through the Gospels {Matthew 24}
I’m joining Amy at Mom’s Toolbox in blogging through the Gospels.
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“Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.”
{Matthew 24.11-12}
It’s doesn’t take very long to look around in the “Christian community” before you start to see false prophets.
And if we were to gauge the lawlessness of our culture, it’s pretty easy to understand why our nation is so cold toward God.
And yet, what about us? What about those of us who speak/write the Word into the lives of others?
Are we being careful to make sure our words are words of Truth? Or do we have the tendency to use the Word to support our own thoughts and ideas?
Are we seeking out and sharing the Truth?
And looking in the mirror a little more deeply, have we become calloused and jaded toward sin? Are we guilty of allowing sin in our lives because “it’s not that bad”?
When we allow sin to get a hold in our lives, even the “small sins,” we are the lawless people that Jesus is speaking of in Matthew – the ones whose love has grown cold.
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Father, as I reflect on these verses, I see how easily I can become self-centered and fail to share Your truth correctly. I have a tendency to try to get others to follow me instead of pointing them to You. I’m sorry for my failure in this area, and I thank You for your unending grace. May I not grow callous and jaded toward sin, but continually come under the cleansing of the cross. May my love for You grow daily and never grow cold.
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What about you? Take a look in the mirror, and share your reflections in the comments below.
Related posts:
My Reflections on The Prodigal God {Chapter 4}
Join me in blogging through The Prodigal God
on Wednesdays in April and May!
Grab the button and linkup your post below.
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The challenge to me in this chapter is to examine my motives. As a “pleaser,” it is easy to find my worth and value through my “good” deeds and actions. Understanding and trusting that God’s love for me is the same regardless of my actions is difficult.
As a parent, I’m beginning to better understand this concept, but I still try to “earn” His love through obedience.
Obedience doesn’t “earn” me God’s love but should be a testimony of my love for Him.
Some quotes I highlighted in this chapter:
“Elder brothers’ inability to handle suffering arises from the fact that their moral observance is results-oriented. The good life is lived not for delight in good deeds themselves, but as calculated ways to control their environment.”
“If you think goodness and decency is the way to merit a good life from God, you will be eaten up with anger, since life never goes as we wish.”
“As long as you are trying to earn your salvation by controlling God through goodness, you will never be sure you have been good enough for him. You simply aren’t sure God loves and delights in you.”
“While most people do not arrive at these extreme places, each approach to life has the seeds of its own destruction in it, which draws its adherents toward the spiritual destinations [Jesus] describes so well.”
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What about you? Do your actions reflect the understanding that God’s love for you is unconditional? How would you live differently if you truly understood?