Motivation Monday, Issue 3

I’ve edited this thing down as much as I can and it’s STILL long. If you read it completely through, kudos to you. If you’re just here for pictures, I can’t really blame you.

Oy. Last week was nutso! If I went into details, this post would go on forever but I will do my best to recap.

If you’ve ever seen my work station, there are some things you can always count on finding. One of those is my Google Calendar, loaded with many “tasks” and color-coordinated appointments. It’s also synced with my iPhone. So this week, it felt like a over-beeping maniac, making sure I didn’t miss a single appointment or consultation. At one point, I felt like grabbing my phone and saying to it, “Do you mind cutting me some slack, iPhone? It’s my birthday week and I’d like to relax at SOME point!” Alas… But no. Still, it was a very good week in spite that I missed several of my goals…

Last week’s goal stats:

Yup! This week’s goals were a total fail but I’m not upset. The whole point of Motivation Monday is simply to make goals to stay motivated every week. Whether or not I succeed doesn’t matter to me so much as writing them down. No shame in failing. It was a busy week, on top of my birthday, so whatevah! Although, I was sad that I wasn’t able to do something “special” for George but it’s only because I couldn’t come up with anything! Like I said, it’s something I need to get better at… But I think I finally have something in mind. So you’ll find out what that is soon enough.

And yes. I failed again to read the Bible for 30 minutes but I have a plan!

The pastor of our church gave an amazing message recently about how he has the heart of an agnostic and he only gave Jesus a chance because he went through a serious investigative journey which involved reading a lot of books from an atheistic/agnostic point of view. Later, our church’s weekly email appeared in my inbox and it shared recommended literature relating to that message. So I’ve decided I’m going to start reading those instead of tackling the Bible face first. I think one of the biggest problems in Christian society is that we’re afraid to ask questions, so when the opportunity to share our faith with others comes up, because Jesus needs to be shared, we make it intimidating because the questions they ask are the same ones we were too afraid to go looking for answers. This needs to change.

The good news is I had an absolutely wonderful birthday that I spent with my family and closest friends. We went to church that morning, which was special in it’s own right (see below), and then we relaxed until dinner, where we had a reservation at The Keg. The food was amazing but the best part was everyone sitting at my table. I could not have asked for anything more. That said…

Here are this weeks’ goals:

I’m also excited to announce that I have (sort of) accomplished one of my New Year’s Resolutions! This week, registration for growth groups started at church, where people can join groups that are either book, activity, or mission related. While I am leading my own activity group for those interested in photography, I also decided to register for a mission group that will be going to Haiti at the end of April. So that means:

I only crossed it out halfway because obviously, I haven’t gone yet. However, it was the first step to making it happen! This is something I have always wanted to do and I’ve been so touched by the images shared by other photographers who have taken it upon themselves to go to Haiti, meet the people there, hear their stories, and helping them in whatever ways they can. So I am very excited and humbled by this opportunity to go and encourage the hearts that are still broken in that amazing country.

And as always, here are some images to share with you. On Sunday, it was my birthday, but it was also a special event at church. EastLake decided to become “BeastLake” and hold a tailgate party for the Seahawks vs. Bears game. So yes, if you’d been at church on Sunday, you would have found people eating BBQ, shaking fists at the overhead screens, and drinking beers with their buddies. Because we’re determined to show people that people who love Jesus have more reason to party hard than anyone else you know.

Yes. This is our pastor and this is the shirt he wore that day.

And if you’re wondering what I got for my birthday, I’m pleased to tell you it is exactly what I wanted.

🙂

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4 Comments

  • Evan H. says:

    Aaawwwwww… I miss Eastlake.

  • Gemma Carr says:

    very cool that an overseas trip is on the horizon! And, some really really really cool shots here Carly. Nice to see a little further into your world, it looks like a nice place to be.

  • Go Bears! Hehe. Happy Belated Birthday! Love your new bag! Good cover choice.

  • Been catching up on your blog…so glad you had a great birthday! 🙂 I love that you’re writing goals for yourself each week. Such a great practice to get into. One thing that has helped me in being consistent in my daily Bible readings is using the YouVersion app. I highly recommend it! It has a variety of Bible reading plans and breaks it up into manageable chunks. I love it!

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