It’s the simple things.

Sitting on my porch, listening to the middle school and high school kids laugh, scream, giggle. Soon, the elementary children will be home, and the neighborhood will be buzzing with activity.

Hoses and squirt guns out of storage. Swimsuit or not, here I come!

Pink shoulders from not remembering to put on sunscreen soon enough. Oh well.

Pulling out my children’s’ clothes which have been outgrown, or those which have seen better days. Thinking about tackling my closet, but will save that for another time.

Cleaning out the garage of unused toys, trikes, and other ‘stuff’ which has been sitting around taking up space.

Smelling fresh cut grass, lilacs and bon fires.

Planting vegetables we had started from seed. Saying a prayer that some of them will survive my unskilled hand at gardening.

Taking a walk through the neighborhood trails, appreciating nature and all its beauty.

The extended sunlight making the  days feel longer, brighter.

Enjoying watching my son play baseball on a gorgeous spring evening.

Skinned knees and elbows from riding, scootering, running too fast.

I love the newness of spring. The energy. The smell. The warm sun on my face. Maybe it is because we made it through the long, cold winter of Minnesota. Regardless, I love spring.

Appreciating the simple things.

Daily KIP: Always do your best – Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret. ~Agreement 4 don miguel ruiz

Daily KIP: It’s ALL in the delivery. Our intent may be good, we may simply just want to help…..possibly share a thought or an idea with someone else. BUT if the way we deliver our message is interpreted wrong, there could be a problem. Remember YOUR delivery makes a HUGE impact.

I am not a big ‘forward’ person when it comes to emails. In fact, I have to admit am guilty of ignoring an occasional forward. This one sat in my inbox for a few days before I finally got around to opening it. I loved it!  I’ve given thought to how I want to live my life as of late, changes I’d like to make- and many of these simple daily suggestions seemed obvious yet a welcome reminder. You know, one of those lists worth printing and hanging on my bathroom mirror. I thought I would pass them along, in hopes to hold myself accountable to them. Maybe one of you will be inspired to simplify your lives by following some or all of these words of wisdom. Many of them remind me of a daily KIP! Let me know what you think.

(By the way, I would site them, but don’t know where this email originated. I’ve also taken the liberty to edit slightly.)

1.  Pray.

2.  Go to bed on time.

3.  Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4.  Say No to projects that won’t fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

5.  Delegate tasks to capable others. (Including husband and children!)

6.  Simplify and unclutter your life.

7.  Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)

8.  Allow extra time to do things and to get to places. (This reminds me of my Grandpa Johnson, RIP!)

9.  Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together.

10.  Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can’t do anything about a situation, forget it.

11.  Live within your budget; don’t use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

12.  Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.

13.  K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

14.  Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

15.  Eat right.

16.  Get organized so everything has its place.

17.  Write down thoughts and inspirations.

18.  Every day, find time to be alone.. REPEAT…every day, FIND time to be alone..

19.  Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don’t wait until it’s time to go to bed to try and pray.

20.  Laugh.

21.  Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

22.  Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

23.  Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).

24.  Sit on your ego.

25.  Talk less; listen more.

26.  Slow down.

Daily KIP: So many of us look to things, people, or situations to “make” us happy. The question is, How’s that working for you?? “Don’t seek happiness for happiness can’t simply be found. Instead seek righteousness. Happiness lies within.”

Daily KIP: Life is so much more than what our eyes are seeing. Take action on the lingering thoughts that pop into your head to reach out to others……a simple prayer is taking action too!

What is a dry well?  Simply put its a well that is dry, one that doesn’t produce any water.  A dry well would be one that no one returns to to quench their thirst and in most cases it would be capped of, abandoned and forgotten.  BUT they are most often always still there.

Getting water from a well is NOT an easy task, it a takes a lot of work.  I’m not talking about the modern day technology that’s used by cities which connect wells to the city water system that we get to our faucets, not that kind of well.  I’m talking about the old wells.  You know, the one where the bucket is hanging there – you have to manually turn the crank down to the bottom, scoop up the water in the bucket and then crank the bucket up…….that’s the kind of well that I have in my mind.  That’s A LOT of work to get one bucket of water!!

IF you were to make the effort to go to the well, the old fashioned kind – put the bucket on the hook, crank it ALL the way down to the bottom and then crank it back up ONLY to find it empty, would your need be met?  Would you be able to quench your thirst? or use the water to wash your clothes? bathe yourself or your child?  NO!!  You would walk away potentially feeling sad, defeated, lonely, frustrated, thirsty, dirty, afraid.

Knowing that the well was dried up, would you go back to get more water?  Maybe,  right?  Maybe it just happened to be dry that day, maybe tomorrow would be different, maybe because it rained or something like that, there would be water.  So, the next day you go to the SAME well, drop the SAME bucket ONLY to find that – OH MY the well IS still dry!  Shoot, once again your needs are not met and you walk away with the same feelings you had the day before…….sad, defeated, lonely, frustrated, thirsty, dirty, afraid.

This could go on for days – hoping to get different results.  Until finally the decision is made to accept the reality that the well is dry, it will no longer meet the needs that it once did.  You let it go. You find another well to meet your needs.  BUT it’s VERY difficult and it can take a lot of time!!

Over the past couple of years I’ve asked myself why in the world am I continually drawn to “dry wells”?  NOW I’m talking about people and relationships.  I make the connection between the two because some of the relationships that I’ve had OR have are like dry wells……….they do not quench my thirst.  I continue to go to the people/relationship thinking the next time will be different, but it’s not.  I leave sad, defeated, some times insecure, judged, frustrated, empty.

I’ve come to the realization that we indeed are creatures of habit AND change is NOT easy!!  What have I done?  I’ve taken the path of least resistance in some cases and continue to get the same results.  YUK – that’s painful!!

Yesterday my friend shared with me this analogy.  She said, “Sometimes we have to set aside or walk away from the unhealthy to make room in our lives for God to bring healthy.”

Oooooohhhhh!  We liked this, but we both decided that it’s a very difficult task!  It’s true, but hard because we want so bad for the “well” aka. relationship/person NOT to be dry!  Plus, it’s easy to just NOT work on de-cluttering and be status quo, even though it’s unhealthy and painful.  DOUBLE PLUS, if we let go of that, even though it’s unhealthy – WHAT do we replace it with in the meantime?  Do we trust God to bring us healthy?

The one thing to keep in mind is like a  dried up well, they are most often ALWAYS still there.  As we make the decision to accept, set aside the unhealthy to make room for the healthy – it doesn’t mean we need to destroy or eliminate – we just don’t need to go there anymore.  We need to set boundaries and make room for God to bring us healthy.

How many dry wells are you going to?

This year I was able to attend my home church, Hosanna!, to celebrate Christmas Eve. For the first time ever, they had a live nativity scene. It was simply amazing. The front altar was covered with hay, and roaming about were 2 camels, a donkey, goat, lamb, calf and geese. Throughout the service, the lamb “baa’ed” and made his voice heard. The dust from the hay emcompassed the congregation, my daughter’s eyes began to water, and we both began to sneeze. The Christmas carols sounded sweet as I’ve ever heard, and a part of me felt like I was really there. It was one of those moments where I looked over at my husband and thought to myself, wow. We are so blessed. Sitting between us were our 2 beautiful children. We were among the animals celebrating Jesus’ birth.

Part of our pastor’s message was this. So much of Christmas has become “what did you get for Christmas?” He said something simple, but something that I’d like to remember. “It isn’t what you get, it is what you become.” I like that. A good overall life lesson. It isn’t what you have, what kind of car you drive, how many toys you own, or how nice your house is- in other words: what you get. It is who you are, and who you become. Approaching every new year, I try and take a good hard look at myself. Who would I like to become, and what am I going to do to get there?

I go back to the fruits of the spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control. I can’t think of a better character checklist than that. Now, where do I begin?

Daily KIP:  Often times we will never know if or how the simple things we do are making an impact or helping others. “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” John Wooden

Daily KIP:  HUG! The beauty of a hug is in its simplicity. The gesture towards another person, known or unknown, is easy. It costs nothing but a simple act of caring and kindness. Who needs a hug today? HUG!