Chasing Joy

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VEDA is Over! #VEDA Recap

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Recap of #VEDA videos for Vlog Everyday August

Tomorrow is September the first, not to be confused with my families pseudo-holiday the oh so important October  The First.  The only thing exciting about September the first is that August will be over and so will VEDA. VEDA stands for Vlog Everyday August.  I challenged myself to do just that. Boy was it a challenge and boy am I glad it’s over.

Here’s  how I did.

Videos  Posted: 17
Videos I would have posted if not participating in VEDA: 4

New Youtubers I’m  Following: 2  (The Mrs Tee and Diary Of A Divorced CocoaMommy)
New Subscribers: 21 (way more than I thought)

What I learned: It is hard to come up with daily content.  I need to remember to go to places like Mamakat’s Losing It for writing and Vlog prompts. I also learned how to edit my videos better and more quickly.

Would I do it again: Watch my last VEDA recaping my experience to find out.

All of my August Vlogs can be found below

Is There Joy In Church Groups???

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Oh boy! What have I done!  These were my thoughts yesterday as I was leaving church.  Yes, I have still been attending Epic each week and No I was not feeling guilty over some misdeed that I’d committed that was discussed in church. My feelings of anxiety were the results of me writing down #550 on my connection card.

The connection card is given out in the program each week. On it you can update your  contact info, submit a prayer request, and, as was the case this week, sign up for a life group.  A life group is basically a social group with members of the church who will meet up during the week for prayer, discussion, games, etc….  This week the sign up for life groups started and I joined life group #550 by writing it on my connection card.

Now I’m super nervous.  For the last 20 plus years I have had an aversion to church in general.  In the past when attending services I have felt uncomfortable, guilty, not good enough, and all sort of other less than joyful emotions.  I have been enjoying Epic largely because I have felt none of those emotions (plus we have taken selfies and even used hashtags, both appealing to bloggers).  I like this church! This is a new feeling for me.

It is a feeling of excitement!  However I also have feelings of fear.  Excitement over being able to enjoy communal worship.  My fears include thoughts of  how long will this last.  Will something happen that will cause me to feel those negative feelings again???  It is with this mix of feelings that I have joined a life group.  I want to get to know some of the members of this church that I like.  But I am super afraid that as I get more involved something will happen that brings those negative feelings that I normally have at church back. My other fear is that I wont be “churchy” enough and not fit in with these people.

I joined the life group for a few reasons.  1. Like I mentioned above I’d like to get to know the people at Epic better.  2. I’d like to make new friends in general.  3. Maybe there will be a cute single Christian guy there. 4. To have a more active social life. Really, wanting to have a more active social life and making new friends are my main reasons for joining.  Learning about the people at the church is a given. Possibly meeting a guy would be a bonus.  I will focus on these reasons over the next couple of weeks, instead of my fears, as I wait for the start of my life group.

A little about life group #550.  It meet’s bi-weekly at 7PM on Thursdays.  I largely picked this group because the day and time worked with my schedule.  The title of the group is Can I Have and Do it All Please?  In reading the group info more closely in writing this post I realize this is a Women’s group.  Ha! So very unlikely I’d meet a cute guy there LOL. The groups start in mid February.  I will let you all know how I like it.

Have you ever joined a group at your church?  What made you join and was it a positive experience?

#TisTheSeason For Hope

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Yesterday as me and my mom were leaving church ( yes I have been attending Epic regularly) she said, “that was for you”.  She was talking about the sermon and I have to agree with her.  I mean it even came complete with a hashtag, #TisTheSeason.  You know I’m all about that! The subject of the sermon was #TisTheSeason for Hope.  
Lately I have been feeling really down about some things in my life. Specifically feeling lonely, disenchanted with men and the dating process and worrying about turning 35 in a few months with no dating prospects and what that means for me wanting to have children. I have been dating for about 20 years now. I’ve always wanted to be a wife and a mom.  I am human and even while Chasing Joy I have my down moments where I feel like when is it going to be my turn. I guess I have been feeling kind of hopeless.
My mom said my hope cup needed to be replenished and that’s why the sermon was meant for me.  I did enjoy the sermon and I do feel a bit better.  So with hope on my mind I decided to come up with a few HOPE acronyms that I can focus on when my hope cup is again in need of refilling.  

Can you think of any other Acronyms for HOPE?  How do you replenish when your hope cup is almost empty?

Now, speaking of hope.  A few of you entered the Chasing Joy Ornament giveaway and are hoping that you have won. The winners of the giveaway are….. drum-roll please….. Debbie and Heather.  Congrats Ladies!  I will be contacting you to confirm your prizes.

PS. Remember, good friends PIN!

Chasing Joy in Church

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I have been to church 2 times in the last 3 weeks.  That is huge for me.  I have had issues with church since I was a teenager.  The ironic thing is I don’t have any issues with God or my Faith just the act of going to church.  I have always felt out of place, like I’d be judged, and like being myself was would not be good enough.  I’d sit in the pew anticipating the end of the service instead of enjoying it and then feeling guilty that I was not enjoying it like everyone else.  You see, issues, lots and lots of issues with being at church.

I listed visit a new church as one of my 35 for 35 goals.  So 3 weeks ago, with the assistance of my cat who wanted me to wake up at 8:30 AM, I visited Epic.  My cousin had mentioned it to me.  She understood my church issues and had gotten good feedback from one of her friends about Epic. My first visit was a good one.  It was casual, young, and welcoming without being pushy.  There was encouragement to return, get baptized, and participate in church activities but there was no hard sell or guilt trip.  Yesterday was my 2nd visit and it was equally as good.  This time I remembered to bring my bible so that I could read along with whatever scriptures were mentioned during the service. (My dad advised me to always do this.  Never blindly follow a religious leader. Read for yourself).  Epic passed my scripture test plus had me laughing during the sermon.  The big bonus for me was when Some Biggie Smalls Lyrics were referenced in a joke that supported the pastors message that having more money and more things will not make us happier, Mo Money, Mo Problems.  

I will share with you my two big takeaways from my two visits.

When faced with limited time when you have to cut some activities.  Cut the ones that someone else can do.  Keep the ones that you and only you can do.  Only you can be your kids parents, your partner’s spouse, your parent’s child, your brother or sister’s sibling.  These are the areas to focus on when time is limited.

You are dong better than you think and God is doing more than you think.  So often I fell overwhelmed and upset that things are not going exactly how I want or how I think they should be going.  It is a good reminder that things usually are not as bad as we think and that God is always doing so  much behind the scenes.  

Hopefully I will continue to have good church going experiences as I would really like to be able to worship with others and maybe even make some new like minded friends. I will keep you all updated about my church experiences and hopefully share some more joyful takeaways from service.

Have you ever struggled with church?  Do you attend regularly? If so what do you like most about your church? 

Joyfully Made in the USA

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I am not a very passionate person. I don’t claim a particular cause or movement. I have never been the type to protest or sign petitions. While, this is not necessarily a positive character trait it is not really a bad one either. I think this aspect of my personality is why I am able to relate to so many different types of people and am able to see both sides of most arguments. I tend to be rather diplomatic and people often open up to me. While I may feel certain decisions are not right for me, I am very capable of understanding why someone else may feel those decisions are right for them.

Passionate people do have a certain energy though that I like (unless they are passionate about something stupid like racism, sexism, etc.). Passionate people make you feel excited and often challenge your way of thinking. A few weeks ago I had the privilege of being amongst a group of very passionate peeps. So passionate in fact that they left me thinking about them and getting this post up for weeks even, though I’m just getting to it. (Don’t mistake my tardiness with lack of support for their cause. It has more to do with my struggle with time management)

So what were these people so passionate about, you ask. These good old United States of America. Specifically, buying and supporting American made products whenever possible. Now of course I support American Made. I’m all for it… in theory. But I admit I do not go out of my way to look for American made products. I won’t often pass up a good price to stick with the USA made brand. And I’ll admit I drive a foreign car. And there is a good chance that my next one will be foreign too.

So I guess my meeting with these passionate people was an epic fail hunh??? Nope, and the reason why is that they have brought to my attention something I never even thought about. Sarah writes the blog Made in USA Challenge. On her blog she talks about USA made products, and often locally made products that are good quality and easy to access. She makes it seem like it’s not so hard to buy American Made. I don’t really have to go the extra mile maybe just the extra yard or two to get what I want and support our countries industrial base. Josh is just wrapping up a documentary, Made in the USA, The 30 Day Journey, which tests the feasibility of living off of only American made Products for 30 days. Is it possible? We’ll have to check out his documentary to see. Josh has traveled these United States seeing all that we have to offer and from what I heard we have some pretty awesome stuff being made right here in the USA.

So a little of their passion has worn off on me. One thing most of you don’t know about me is that I do not like to spend my money in places that don’t offer good customer service. I do not feel good wasting my spending power on businesses that don’t value the customer. After my meeting with passionate made in USA peeps Sara and Josh I am thinking, could using my spending power to support our US economy give my shopping habit a purpose other than the excitement of having new shinny things. Could making an effort to support American Made products bring a little more Joy to my shopping???

Do you ever think about where the things you purchase are made? Do you purposefully look for Made in the USA products? Do you think it would be possible or realistic to live off of only Made in the USA products?

Stay tuned for Josh’s documentary to see how he made out.

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