Personalities and Blogging.

I don't know if you are at all interested in personalities, but I am.

I'm a Sanguine/Melancholy.

The sanguine in me is the people person..the person that never really meets any strangers.

It's the part of me that flutters all around a social gathering trying to take in as many conversations as possible.

It's the part of me that loves to talk about such important things as fashion, decorating and recipes.

The melancholy in me is the structured, organized, "everything has a place" part of me.

It's also the part of me that loves to analyze and connect the dots in my life.

It's the part of me that isn't satisfied with only fluttering around the social gathering talking to people.

..those conversations need to be fairly deep and meaningful.

I want to know the stories that make up peoples' lives.

There are all sorts of tests that you can take to figure out your specific personality traits and the strengths and weaknesses that go with them.

One of the tests that I've taken is the DISC test.

On it, I am an IC.

"I" representing the sanguine and "C" representing the melancholy.

Here are some key words that go with the "I"....

Enthusiastic. Trusting. Optimistic. Persuasive. Talkative. Impulsive. Emotional 

Yep.  totally me.

And, here are some words that go with the "C"....

Accurate. analytical. Conscientious. careful. Fact-finder. precise. High standards. systematic.

Also.  totally me.

I thought a lot about blogging during the past four weeks.

Do I keep it up or toss it to the side.

Understanding the ins and outs of my personality help me to understand why it's such a struggle for me.

I've said before that I started blogging because I needed a creative outlet.

It's true, I did.

But, really, I just needed an outlet, period.

When I started this blog, we were new to homeschooling, so we were getting to know our community.

I felt like I was losing my voice with the outside world a little bit.

That's why I started this blog.

It gave me a way to store beautiful and inspiring pictures and it gave me a place to write.

I've met some of the most kind people.

At times, it feels totally normal to be relating and communicating with strangers all over the world,

and at other times, it feels absolutely bizarre.

The truth is, I didn't have a huge community here to pour my time into when I started this blog,

but now I do.

We have several families that we homeschool with that have become dear friends in the past 9 months.

Our kids are very connected, and so are we.

It feels weird to pour time into blogging when I have real life relationships right in front of me.

Does anyone else ever struggle with this?

The sanguine in me wants to connect with as many people in the world that I can connect with,

but the melancholy in me knows that there's no way to maintain genuine depth with a multitude of people.

The sanguine in me wants to post every picture I can find that brings inspiration,

and the melancholy in me wants to write and write and write about everything that moves me in the least.

Some of these thoughts have brought up questions in my little melancholy mind.

You know...because I need one more thing to analyze.  

{That's how melancholy's roll}

Here are the things about blogging that have me conflicted.

*leaving comments

*responding to every comment

*having the follower gadget on my sidebar

*having a blog list on my sidebar

I don't know about you, but it all kind of feels like high school all over again.

Don't get me wrong, I loved most parts of high school,

but the only way I'd go back is if I could do things differently.

Very differently.

I love leaving comments and connecting with other bloggers, 

but not when it starts to feel like I'm running for homecoming queen again.

Make sense to anyone but me?

So, I've taken my blog list off the sidebar and I've removed the followers gadget.

And, it feels good.

 And, just in case you're curious about what the photo has to do with this post....
The sanguine part of me loved the vibrant colors that screamed in the photo,
and the melancholy part of me loved the barns in the background, cause they remind me of home.

Full Surrender.

Well, I'm entering into my last full week of the blog break that I took during this season of Lent.

I hate to admit that deciding to take a break was kind of a tug of war between me and the Lord.

I felt his nudge in my heart, and then I did the whole "try to talk him out of it" scenario.

I'm pretty sure there were literal conversations that I had with him about why I didn't need to take a break.

But I knew it was his nudge, and I know by now that he only wants the best for me, so I surrendered.

Surrendering feels good.

It's way too easy for my heart to have a will of its own, and his peace always follows when I obey his nudges.

One of the things that I've contemplated this season is a series of questions
that one of our Christian forefathers, John Wesley, often asked himself and a group of men
that he spent time with in a mentoring type relationship.

The first time I ever read them, I felt like a complete failure.

They all seem to plague me at some time or another.
My imperfections show me my dependence upon Christ.

The questions are a good reminder of my great need for him.

So, I thought I'd be a good bloggy friend and pass them on to you.
Don't thank me later with hate mail, okay?

 Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am?

In other words, am I a hypocrite?

 Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?

 Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?

 Can I be trusted?

Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?

 Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?

 Did the Bible live in me today?

 Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?

 Am I enjoying prayer?

 When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?

 Do I pray about the money I spend?

 Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?

 Do I disobey God in anything?

 Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?

 Am I defeated in any part of my life?

 Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?

 How do I spend my spare time?

 Am I proud?

 Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?

 Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? 

If so, what am I doing about it?

 Do I grumble or complain constantly?

 Is Christ real to me?

Christ is real to me.
And because he is real,
I can say with confidence that even though my flesh struggles, there is hope eternal.

HE IS RISEN.

Busch Gardens & Clearwater Beach

Clearwater Beach and Busch Gardens made for a great weekend!
My husband performed the wedding ceremony of two former students,
and we enjoyed a weekend together in Tampa.
My kids are slightly obsessed with that place...not sure what the deal with Tampa is,
but to them it might as well be Hollywood.

Great family time and sweet time with dear and precious friends...the groom was in our student ministry in Georgia and his parents are our kids God-parents.

Who knew when he left Georgia to move to Orlando for college that we'd follow him a couple of years later
and see him meet and marry his wife!

He Brings Dead Things to Life.

    Photos found here, here and here.

The thing I love most about Spring is its reminder to me that dead things can come to life.

It brings such enormous hope to me to watch flowers bloom and gardens grow.

Nothing seems to make me more aware of God's presence and goodness than seeing his creation.

He came.  He died.  He rose again.

And, this is our hope.

He brings dead things to life in us and all around us.

This girl gave him him plenty of dead things that needed to be brought to life.

And, because I'm such a piece of work, there is still plenty to resurrect.

But, I have such hope that he who began a good work in me will carry it through to completion.

{Philippians 1:6}