Deliberately

Ghia: 00:00:03

Hello, everyone.

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This is Ghia your host for this week's

creative spiritual journey podcast.

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I'm not sure when this podcast will be

published or when you will listen to it.

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But for me right now, it's early January.

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A traditional time for

new year's resolutions.

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Personally, I'm not

that big on resolutions.

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Especially when they're made

in January, it's cold and dark.

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I want to sleep longer and read more.

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And the days are so short, it seems

like it's hard to get anything done.

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Who decided new years

should be in January anyway.

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Actually, I know the answer to

that because I looked it up.

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January as the start of the new year

was a kind of arbitrary decision

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made in 45 BC by Julius Caesar.

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And later endorsed by

Pope Gregory the eighth.

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Aren't you glad to know that?

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Okay.

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Maybe not really.

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Here's what I think it's hard

to make resolutions in January

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that require a lot of energy

because winter is a time for rest.

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Uh, time to focus on the internal.

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It's a great time for making

plans or growing roots, but not

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necessarily getting anything done

that requires a lot of energy.

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So if you make resolutions in January,

be gentle with them and with yourself.

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Meditate on them as a way to create them

spiritually before jumping right in.

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Practice with them.

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And then modify as needed.

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Then when spring comes, you will

actually have the energy to get going.

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I would've picked spring for the new year.

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If I'd been Julius Caesar.

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New things, bud, in the spring, it's a

great time for new growth and a new plan.

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That's just what makes sense to me.

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There are some people who like the

idea of the new year being in the

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fall when all the harvest is done.

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I might be able to go with that.

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And it would be a way better time for

resolutions than the middle of winter.

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Now, with all this said, If you love

new year's resolutions or have one

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going that's working for you don't

let anything I'm saying stop you.

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Keep going girl, I'm cheering you on.

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So, let me get to the

point I'm trying to make.

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And that is.

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I'm not writing

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Ghia: this particular podcast in

January because it's the new year.

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I'm writing it in January because

this is the month Judy and

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her husband are starting their

mission in Durban, South Africa.

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And while Judy is having all kinds

of experiences and spiritual growth.

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I decided to see if I could in

any way mirror duties, journey

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with a home journey of my own.

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And I thought some of you might like

to join me on a similar journey because

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I suspect most of you are at home

in your usual lives, just like me.

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So, have you ever heard of people

picking a word for the year?

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It's a thing I guess.

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So I have picked a word for my

two year journey and that word is.

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Deliberately.

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I'm going on a creative,

spiritual journey.

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And I plan to walk deliberately.

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That's actually two words.

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So, let me rephrase.

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The theme words I have picked for the

next two years are to walk deliberately.

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I picked the words walk deliberately

because I liked the sound.

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Walk deliberately.

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I hear purpose and substance and power.

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I decided to look up the

definition for deliberate.

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And after doing that, I knew I had

picked the right words for my journey.

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Here's the Marion Webster's

dictionary definition of deliberate.

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A with full awareness

of what one is doing.

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In a way that is intended or planned.

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With full awareness of what one is doing.

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I love that.

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I'm going to have a plan for my journey.

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Now listen to part B.

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In a way that is not hurried

slowly and carefully.

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Part B is where I knew I

had the right word for me.

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I am always in a hurry.

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I want everything done.

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Not right now, but yesterday.

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So my goal for the next two years is to

walk deliberately on this journey of life.

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I'm going to have specific intentions

and I'm not going to be in a hurry.

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In fact duty has already been gone

for almost two weeks and I'm still

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getting my thoughts put together.

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I will be ready when I'm ready.

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It's still the heart of winter.

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It's cold and dark.

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The bears are still hibernating.

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The honey is sticky.

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And I have a cup of peppermint

tea to drink before it gets cold.

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So, let me be clear.

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My word deliberate doesn't mean

I can't go with the flow of

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life or have any spontaneity.

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To the contrary, going with the flow

is something I hope to do deliberately.

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So.

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I can't talk about walking deliberately

without reading some Henry David Thoreau.

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This comes from his book Walden.

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He says, I went to the woods because

I wished to live deliberately.

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To front only the essential

facts of life and see if I could

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not learn what it had to teach.

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And not when I came to die,

discover that I had not lived.

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I did not wish to live what was not life.

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Living is so dear.

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Nor did I wish to practice resignation

unless it was quite necessary.

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I wanted to live deep and suck

out all the marrow of life.

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Hm.

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Does that make you want to

live deliberately to suck

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out all the marrow of life?

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You don't have to go

into the woods though.

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I would highly recommend you do

sometimes, or at least go to your

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garden or someone else's garden.

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If you don't like yours.

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Throw says we need to live

our lives deliberately.

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So we don't miss what's important.

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And being in nature is so important.

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But in general.

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If we don't do things

deliberately life just slips by.

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You know how it is.

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I remember being in my late twenties

and a newly divorced single mom, living

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with my parents in Southern California.

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And I looked back over the year and

realize that the first time since

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I was five, I hadn't gone skiing.

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That may not sound too

important to some of you.

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But I realized I had to make it a

priority if I wanted it to happen.

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I had to make it happen or it wouldn't.

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So here's my plan for the next

two years while Judy is on her

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mission and I'm left at home.

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I'm going on a two year journey of my own.

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And my plan is to set goals that

will help me walk deliberately with

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Jesus Christ and to help me grow

in a deeper relationship with him.

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So before I tell you about my plan,

I want to switch words for a moment

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and talk about the word walk.

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And what that word has to do with being

in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

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Here's a quote.

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I love from Emily Bell Freeman

from the October,: 2023

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Quote.

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When the Lord called To journey

through the land and testify of him.

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Inic hesitated.

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He was blinded by what was broken in him.

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The Lord's answer to what hindered

him was simple and immediate.

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Walk with me.

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Like Anik.

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We must remember that the one who

was bruised and broken for us will

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allow mortality to do its work in us.

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But he didn't ask us to

face those challenges alone.

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No matter the heaviness of our story.

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Or the current course of our path.

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He will invite us to

walk with him and quote.

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Oh, those words, make my heart sing.

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Each of us is invited to walk with God.

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I love it.

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And I want to make sure it happens.

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And by the way, did you know that

there is a whole topical guide

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section on walking with God?

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Check it out sometime.

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It's good.

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Now I know walking with

God, doesn't feel literal.

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But honestly, I don't believe the line

between the spiritual and the physical

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is as defined as we think sometimes.

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So once again, I'm going on a two

year journey and my plan is to

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set goals that will help me walk

deliberately with Jesus Christ.

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Think about it.

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You really get to know someone

when you go on a journey with them.

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So right now I have five things

on my list that I'm going to

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implement deliberately or more

deliberately than I've done before.

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And I believe they're going

to help me be in relationship

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and walk with Jesus Christ.

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And I have to say.

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That they may change

or be refined as I go.

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I'm not riding them and stone.

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But for right now, they are one.

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Scripture study journaling, prayer

meditation, as well as selected

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secular reading and study.

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Two.

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Ministering to the little

community around my home and

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hopefully to my podcast listeners.

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Three.

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Growing closer to the natural

world and living seasonally.

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Four.

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Building a house with my fabulous man.

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Wow.

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Well, that'd be an adventure.

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And five.

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Caring for my body, mind and spirit

with good food, herbs, water.

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And of course, By actually walking.

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So someone I'm not sure who.

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Put up a little tree in our chapel

with a stack of papers next to it.

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And a note that said make a

spiritual new year's resolution.

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And the idea was that you write

your resolution on a piece of

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paper and stick it on a tree.

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This is a very cute idea

and a sweet thought.

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But I want to say that I'm learning

more and more how important our physical

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bodies are to our spiritual lives.

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I don't believe you should work on one

area to the exclusion of the other.

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For example, I have building a

house with my husband on my list.

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And you might wonder how that's going

to help me grow closer to my savior.

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For Kirk and me as a time to

use our creative gifts, we are

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creating a beautiful place to live.

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And because our little piece of land is

surrounded by so much natural beauty.

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I feel responsible to build something

to the best of my ability that

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reflects the beauty around me.

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As a daughter of God,

I am a natural creator.

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It's part of my character.

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The house project is also a time to

practice patience, faith, and love.

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Not everyone has a big project like

this, but everyone has something they

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can deliberately create in their lives.

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Even if it's creating dinner.

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Or maybe a big mess.

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The idea is created deliberately

in relationship with Jesus Christ.

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Over the next two years, I will be

sharing my thoughts, accomplishments,

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progress, summits, sunburns, maybe

a little dehydration and whatever

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other adventures and obstacles

I come across on this journey.

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And just to be clear.

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The journey isn't about getting anywhere.

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It's about what I become.

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I hope you will make your own plan

goals, resolutions, whatever you

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call them and join me as we walk

deliberately on a journey of becoming.

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Of becoming our best selves of

becoming more like our savior.

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It doesn't matter what time of

year you join us or when you find

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this podcast start where you are.

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I would simply recommend you

keep the literal seasons and

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the seasons of your life.

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In mind.

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As you evaluate the energy, you

are able to put towards your goals.

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If you aren't sure what I'm talking

about, I will go into this topic more

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in future podcasts because seasonal

living is one of my favorite topics.

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So, thanks for joining me for this

creative, spiritual journey podcast..

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Right now this time of year I'm savoring,

any time I get to spend in the winter sun.

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And relishing my cup of peppermint

tea next to the wood-burning

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stove sending love to you all.

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Please follow our podcast Nama stay..