From My Mountain View

Obedience, Taking a Needed Break

Hello, dear friends. I've been doing my very best to avoid writing this post for almost three months. My friend, Kayse, shared yesterday on her blog about full VS. partial obedience, and I finally came to a resolve to walk out what I knew God has been leading me in.

I am a lover of words. I love what they do for the soul, for freedom, for vision, for Truth. If I could fill all the walls of my home with words that inspire and lift up a soul unto Truth, I would. Sometimes I wish I could write the Truth on the inside of my eyelids for it always to be seen. I love poetry; epic free verse imagery delights my soul. And I love to write words that encourage.

Just because God has given you a love for something, maybe even a gift or talent in it, doesn't mean you're supposed to do it in every season of life.

I knew back in January that God was asking for me to lay blogging and online community in His hands for awhile. I tried just cutting back a good bit, just posting for the two link-ups I host that yall would be looking for specifically. But I kept feeling Him calling me into His rest all the while that life got harder and harder.

I am just so weary in this current season. So tired in my spirit and exhausted in my body.

And writing? This thing that I love so, has turned into a pressure.

Pressure to perform. Pressure to post "something good and encouraging." I just sit, starring at the computer screen feeling dry and empty of words; parched for His refreshment in it. But I still hesitated even though I knew God was asking because He knows me best, and that I desperately needed a break.

I hesitated for two reasons:

1. I love it so stinkin' much. To receive your comments or private messages letting me know how you've been encouraged thrills my soul. It confirms to me that From My Mountain View is walking in the vision God gave me for it three years ago. "FMMV is a community of women; existing to be a place for many hearts to gather together pursuing lifestyle of transparency, thanksgiving, and creativity; encouraging one another and lifting one another up to see the potential that already dwells within." This has been me, where rubber hits the road. Writing with the purpose to bring God glory and encourage women. And I. Love. It.

2. I'm afraid to let it go. I've done a lot to build and grow this blog. I feel like there are so many people to "let down" in taking a break. My consistent viewers are important to me. Just when I get ready to listen to God and lay it in His hands, someone messages or comments about how much God has used me to encourage them... And then I just. can't. stop. I'm afraid. I'm afraid that if I take the significant break God has been leading me to and that I need so desperately, that it will all just fade away - that all I've built with From My Mountain View will be null, and I'd have to begin again. "That this blog and my writing won't mean anything anymore."

But it was His in the first place; He just gave me the vision and passion for it. I need to let go and believe I can trust Him with the outcome of it all.

My break from blogging will be open ended, without time constraints. I want the freedom to post when the Lord leads me to share something with yall, but it will be rarely. I don't know how long it will be; I'm willing to leave that up to Him.

And I will be tuning into KaysePratt.com in a couple of weeks for her new series coming up called, "Embracing Rest." Pretty perfectly timed, right? I hope you might join me there. And thank you for your continual friendship and lovies. :)

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Passion Week, Celebrating After a Soul's Winter
{and a Moms Against Manic Mondays Link Up}

I love, love, love this time of year. I can see the nearing end of winter and new growth will begin just in time to comfort my soul after a long winter of its own. And perfectly timed is the celebration of Jesus' love and sacrifice to bring us into life with Him. Celebration of new growth and the new life we were given in Christ. Good times, good times.

There is especially such a wide range of emotions in this week. This is the week we remember the passion of Jesus' last days. We heartily recall with stricken hearts His suffering, torture, and death. But we mustn't stop there. He didn't. This is a week of celebration for reconciliation and to explode in jubilant praise over the worthiness of the Son, our Savior, our Groom.

It's still a Monday though, right? We still have this week's responsibilities to fill, to-do lists to accomplish, jobs to complete, children to rear, sleep to attempt to achieve, maybe even overwhelming trials to walk through. We all experience seasons of our lives that we feel the need to throw in the towel. Sometimes, like this morning, I close my eyes shut tight and wish so hard that I was all alone in a retreat center or spa somewhere and have trouble holding back a groan. This has been a season of tiredness and trial for both my husband and I for various reasons. Life here in this world, ya know?

We cling to each other and we cling to our Firm Foundation and Strong Tower we have in the One who hung on a tree for our freedom. We rest in the arms of His love, in the Comforter. And we just do the next. right. thing.

We cling, rest, and do. And life moves on. And new growth comes in the next season because of the purification in the death and cold of the winter.

I bless you this Monday, and this week of Holy Passion, with a song to stir up your soul. :)

Let Him In by David Olinger
Crown Him King. Open up these city gates and let Him in. Wave these palm branches high up in the sky and welcome Him. Come on and welcome Him, O Risen Son of God. In He rides like a grain of wheat buried in the earth. He came to die. But the road that led him unto death leads us into life. Now we’re His prize. Come receive Your prize, O Risen Son of God. Hosanna in the highest. Come on and praise Him, O my soul. Sing daughters of Zion. O Sweet Jerusalem, Salvation has come.

If you are unable to view the embed music video I encourage you to view it directly on Youtube by clicking here, or to purchase David's album "Hope," click here. :)

There are so many beautiful things about Mondays. Here at From My Mountain View, every Monday, we band together to renounce/reject Manic Mondays. Right here is a great place to encourage one another and be encouraged!

Moms Against Manic Mondays is a place you can share your posts about:

Mondays - Encouragement - Joy - Pressing On - Etc.

Share a link to your post using the widget at the end of this post, it's easy!
Remember to link your blog post back here by adding our adorable button using the code found below, courtesy of Plumrose Lane.
Most importantly, visit the person that linked up before you and encourage them in their comments! (Which is the heart of this community.)

I bless you today with eyes to see them and the heart to recognize them - the blessings in disguise. Eucharisteo!

Psalm 118:24

"This is the day which the Lord has brought about;

I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

I desire to recognize what is my part of the "manic" in Mondays, and do what I can to change it.

I desire to live abundantly in the Mondays.

I desire to thrive in each day, to dance them in along with the sun.

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(Subscribers, you may click here to read more encouragement linked up by other women in this community)

Linked to With Thanks: See Blog Directory

A Soul Worn Thin
{Marriage & Mommyhood Link-Up :: Session 2, Week 6}

Looking at him across the room, my beloved of almost a decade of covenant, I myself shocked at my elevated volume and annoyed tone. That sarcastic foreordain slip was out, and there was no taking it back. He now knew exactly how I've felt about this particular thing. This, even though God had very specifically led in my spirit to keep it quiet and pray, instead leaving it up to the One who can communicate with my husband best. His steps were slow, non-confrontational, and yet strong. His eyes were frustrated, yet his words spoken from a heart willing to grant benefit of doubt -- "I will think on that, but in the mean time, why don't you give _______ a call and go get some coffee with her?"

It had been awhile. Too many goings on and no priority made. Hesitancy to take the time for myself, battling over the question, "Is it selfish? There's just so much to do..."

A few days later her tender eight year old eyes told me everything I needed to hear; not that I wanted to. I couldn't rewind that moment. There was no "do over." In her eyes, shock and despair that I would lose my patience so abruptly and let all my frustrations out in her direction in one fell swoop. In her eyes, more communicated than she knew to tell me -- momma's been walking on the edge too many days now without timed out refreshment.

Time in quiet intimacy with the Lord. Time with a friend or friends. Just time where I'm not pulled in every opposite direction, stretching and pulling, straining my soul, wearing it thin.

It's a soul worn thin that emanates Romans 7:19-20 so strongly in me --

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

-KJV

For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

-The Message

I struggle hard with guilt over taking time for myself. But refreshment is a necessity and needs to be made priority in my heart and mind. As a result, while life (or myself) doesn't get magically perfect, God and I are tighter, I'm much for gracious and supportive to my husband, and have a greater ability to see my children through God's eyes.

All this just from taking a moment to refill my cup.

Matthew 11:28 Amplified Bible (AMP)

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened,
and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

What are some ways that you struggle with guilt in taking time for yourself?

What are some things that you do to refresh your soul?

Welcome to our weekly Marriage & Mommyhood link-up! Please feel free to share any post on marriage, mommyhood, faith, or family below. This week we are continuing our walk through the No More Desperate Moms Resolution, with resolution no. 7: I will not feel guilty for taking time to refresh my soul.

(Subscribers, you can click here to come on over and join the fun!)

Linked to With Thanks: See Blog Directory

What Causes a Manic Monday?
{and a Moms Against Manic Mondays Link Up}

Happy Monday, beautiful friends!!!

Moms Against Manic Mondays is a place you can share your posts about:

Mondays - Encouragement - Joy - Pressing On - Etc.

Share a link to your post using the widget at the end of this post, it's easy!
Remember to link your blog post back here by adding our adorable button using the code found below, courtesy of Plumrose Lane.
Most importantly, visit the person that linked up before you and encourage them in their comments! (Which is the heart of this community.)

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I find that I dread Mondays. I am not alone. Many, many people dread Mondays. We look forward to the weekend all week, then when we have just begun to get nice and snug into the weekend, it's gone ten times faster than it came.

I begin to dread Monday long before the alarm clock rings at 5:30am. For me personally, dread and fear starts creeping slowly in around mid-afternoon on Sundays. It first started when I was in grade-school, then continued in a different way after I became an adult and started working. Then it changed forms again when I stopped working and became a stay-at-home mom. This time I was dreading my husband having to go back to work on Monday morning, and my children and I having to "get back into the swing of things" with housework and homeschool.

How do I react to this dread? I rebel. I want as much of Sunday as I can muster. I stay up too late. So then, of course, I don't get enough sleep. Subsequently it is very difficult for me to rise early before our daughters wake. Then I wake in a bad mood because they wake up a great deal more chipper and lively than I, so it's just too much for my sleepy brain to handle immediately after waking.

"Without preparation, I’ve lost the day before it’s begun. I’m toast.
And so is my family, because throughout the day, I set the pace.
If mama’s a mess, everything’s a mess (and the babes go nuts)." -Sarah Mae

I do not prepare for Monday because I have already accepted that "Mondays stink." I mean they do, right? Every Monday, without fail, never ever holds anything that is not extroidinarily difficult...right? Of course that's not true! Then why do we believe it? Why do we believe that Mondays are hard? Belief...

Isn't it interesting that the events I described leading up to Mondays for me are actually what creates the stinky, crappy day? Hmmm...so,

My dread of Monday = A Manic Monday

The result is NOT the other way around. You get what you expect many, many times over.

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I bless you today with eyes to see them and the heart to recognize them - the blessings in disguise. Eucharisteo!

Psalm 118:24

"This is the day which the Lord has brought about;

I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

(Subscribers, you may click here to read more encouragement linked up by other women in this community)

Linked to With Thanks: See Blog Directory

Blog Button Code Change

Hey friends!!

Plumrose Lane, the amazing company I hired a looong time ago to create my beautiful custom blog button, is going through a big and exciting change. This also means though that all image links are going through a change as well. I thought I had altered the code she sent me to include a new link from my own photobucket, but I guess I forgot. Ooops!

So take note!!

If you are so extremely sweet to be a friend who displays my button on your blog, the code you have currently is now faulty and needs to be replaced with the following:

Thanks so much!! So sorry for the mix up! :)
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Pages

Obedience, Taking a Needed Break

Passion Week, Celebrating After a Soul's Winter {and a Moms Against Manic Mondays Link Up}

Psalm 118:24

A Soul Worn Thin {Marriage & Mommyhood Link-Up :: Session 2, Week 6}

What Causes a Manic Monday?{and a Moms Against Manic Mondays Link Up}

Happy Monday, beautiful friends!!!

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My dread of Monday = A Manic Monday

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Psalm 118:24

Blog Button Code Change

Passion Week, Celebrating After a Soul's Winter
{and a Moms Against Manic Mondays Link Up}

A Soul Worn Thin
{Marriage & Mommyhood Link-Up :: Session 2, Week 6}

What Causes a Manic Monday?
{and a Moms Against Manic Mondays Link Up}