A Christmas Present Review and perhaps a New Year's Resolution?

I went to a small christian college after I graduated high school. 

I absolutely, thoroughly and undoubtedly LOVED my experience there. 

Although, I will admit...it's not for everyone. 

For me, there were things from which I needed to heal, confidence I needed to gain and of course, God knew my future husband was there...so ya know...

I ended up with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and two minor degrees...Math and Bible.

Yep, I have a Bible Minor...

that means that I read through my Bible every year for those 4 years...and I had to learn how to pick apart verse by verse, word by word, thought by thought.  

side note: I seriously still have all my inductive bible study papers from all my courses in my minor (does this even surprise you???) ...I brought them up from my basement...woohoo shout out to Dr. Fawcett, Dr. Miller and Dr. Warren...they were wonderful profs!

The "studious side" of me LOVED it...and it may have been one of my earliest introductions to allowing my right-brain some breathing room...because in our inductive Bible studies, we had to color code and highlight and draw all over the place as we dove into the meaning and greek/hebrew words. 

There is a new "phenomenon" going on currently...it's called Illustrated Faith or Bible Journaling...

Honestly, it's probably just another way for publishing companies to get people to buy more books, specifically Bibles...and it worked...even for me :) 

My MIL bought me a Journaling bible for Christmas.  It's the type where the print is super tiny and the margins are huge...Many use it for note taking or colorful illustrations for the verses or just a place to doodle for those that have to keep moving whilst they are "listening"...

For me...I wanted something to help me memorize and just "be still"...I have a problem with "listening"...

my problem is that I like to TALK...A LOT, A LOT, A LOT!!!

When I got the bible I knew my perfectionism would get the better of me if I didn't just get started...

And so, I went through my study bible to figure out which verses were ones that I had underlined and took notes next too...ones that meant the most to me...the point is to actually "create" in the margins as it pertains to the text...

Again, personally this means attention to the WORDS (remember, I'm a talker and lover of all things WORDS...so this is really big for me :) 

the first one I did relates to my sister Sarah...

the next one was for my middle daughter...the verse we chose for her, especially after our scare after her birth having a hole in heart...and little did we know then how incredibly this verse describes her heart and just the way she is wired...

And I found that I couldn't stop there...I've loved my quiet/still time...and I look forward to it...because whether you believe me or not, the words themselves are powerful...so even just spending quick moments studying or thinking on them...it changes you...

It could end up being a fad, all this coloring and doodling... although I hope not...

I hope this trigger to my right brain will actually cause it to slow down a bit...and not jump from one project to the next without any space to breath...

but, that it will allow me to Be Still...and to Listen more...

Perhaps that should be my ONE WORD this year...

My past words were SEE, CHOOSE and FOCUS

This year I can't seem to land on just one word...they are jumbled between LISTEN and CONNECT and GRACE...

the thing is, they all circle around relationship...not just myself, an individual...it requires another person in order for me to LISTEN, to CONNECT and to give GRACE...

And here I go coming full circle to my purpose and goals for CT PhotoMemories...

I shouldn't be amazed anymore of all that I continually learn...this journey of life would be pretty boring without the life lessons along the way...and I'd rather be real than just put on a pretty show. 

Do you have a "word" for this year? 

I hope you won't mind me sharing a bit of "personal" things throughout this year...especially during my down time...I'm hoping that I'll be learning more and more, especially as I take time to listen :)