31 Days Transformational Pivot Points

Welcome!! Thank you for dropping in to see what's happening during my 31 Days of Pivot Points. Here's a quick summary of what you'll find.

Throughout my life I have had "Pivot Points," times when an event or a lesson has transformed my thinking and my behavior. For the 31 Days of October I will be sharing these Transformational Pivot Points here at Emerging Butterflies.

Nester is the inspiration behind this endeavor and I am linking up with others through her website to share our 31 Days musings. Be sure to check out others there too. If you're participating in the 31 Days, please leave the URL to your first 31 Days post so that others can drop by and visit you too.

Grab a cup of coffee or a mug of hot chocolate on these cool Fall days and read along as I share how God has transformed me little bit by little bit . . . from what I was to what I am becoming in Him.

A link to each day's posts will be added below:

Day 1: His Eyes
Day 2: Going for the Gold
Day 3: Oops! Where Did the Rug Go?
Day 4: Why? The Question
Day 5: Why? An Answer
Day 6: Surrender
Day 7: Simplicity and Substance
Day 8: Flowing from a Pure Heart
Day 9: Listening to God
Day 10: Blessing by Being
Day 11: Five Minute Friday and Pivot Points . . . Ordinary
Day 12: Path of Transformation
Day 13: Level of Commitment
Day 14: Invincible Faith
Day 15: Working Together for Good
Day 16: Grieving the Loss
Day 17: Lies v. Truth
Day 18: Five Minute Friday Meets Pivot Points - Laundry
Day 19: I Am Loved
Day 20: What to do with Emotions
Day 21: Captivating Woman - Part 1
Day 22: Captivating Woman - Part 2
Day 23: Neither Offend or Be Offended
Day 24: Created in God's Image
Day 25: Five Minute Friday and Pivot Points: Together
Day 26: Bubbles and Boundaries
Day 27: Accept Another's Essence
Day 28: Dependent on God and Connected to People
Day 29: Changed Thinking
Day 30: Pruning
Day 31: 31 Days Wrap-up

Five Minute Friday: TRUE

"A cup of sweet water, no matter how violently jarred, will never spill bitter water." 

(Amy Carmichael - missionary to India) 

Last spring I saw this quote approached in a different way. A woman was asked to hold a cup of water and then another woman bumped the first woman's hand and water spilled out. The question was asked, "Why did the water spill out?" The answer, because the cup was jarred. WRONG! The water spilled because that was what was in the cup.

Recently I have been reminded of this at times when I feel stepped on or taken advantage of and I feel first frustration and then anger bubbling to the surface, anger that I do not like. I am reminded that I am not angry because of the other person. I am angry because that is what is inside me that is spilling out.

I am thankful for God's forgiveness in those moments when I feel anger and rage and let is spill out. I am thankful that when I feel ashamed of the ugliness inside of me, He forgives, refreshes, restores, and gives me hope for a better day.

Picture: Microsoft clip art

Clutter to Clarity

"Define what you are shooting for, and then prune against that standard." 

~ Dr. Henry Cloud (Necessary Endings)

In June I began a Clutter Buster Challenge - get rid of 7 items per day. By the end of August I had gotten rid of over 5,000 items (much of it paper). Choosing what to keep and what to discard gave me clarity about my life.

In the past I had been a school teacher and a youth worker. Those seasons have ended and now I am looking ahead to a new season. Although the picture of the next season is still a little fuzzy, I see a picture of a counselor, a teacher, and a writer. While I gave away many of my tools that had served me well as a school teacher or youth leader, I kept those tools that would help me as a counselor, non-school teacher, and writer. In my sorting and evaluating, I found clarity about the season that had ended and the season ahead.

The old must go to make way for the new. Pursuing new opportunities requires energy, time, and focus. As long as I hung on to the old, I was stealing time, energy and focus from what lies ahead. I had to let go of the old to make room for the new. Letting go of the old is giving me the time and space to focus on the new. As I focus on the new, I am excited about what lies ahead.

My Clutter Buster Challenge has ended. Purging my home of what has come to an end has given me emotional and mental space to pursue the future. Still, I own too much. My next challenge is "Finding a Home" for everything, also known as "having a place for everything, and everything in its place." I can tell that this is going to lead to further pruning. As I continue to prune, I trust that my next steps will become clearer and clearer as well. 

Have you had a time when you made room for a new season in your life? What helped you to transition into that new opportunity?

Five Minute Friday: She

She carried me in her womb. She waited while the church bells rang and other mothers gave birth. She waited for me to arrive. She cradled me in her arms and cared for my needs.

She taught me to talk, to walk, to sing, to cook, to sew, to love, to learn, to follow Christ above all else.

She became my best friend. She went on shopping trips, vacations, doctor's visits, trips to college, and to church with me.

She grew older . . . and older. Now she is facing the winter of her life and it is confusing and lonely at times for her. She calls me when she is afraid or lonely or confused. She tires easily so trips to town are shorter and she lets me do her shopping, take her to the doctor, arrange her pills in their green, purple, and yellow cases.

She gives me the privilege of loving her as she has loved me my whole life long.

Five Minute Friday: Red

In 1974 my parents and I moved into our new home. My older siblings were either married or pursuing careers and I was the only one left in the nest. On the south side of our new home my father had placed a family room, a large room with windows on three sides - facing east, south, and west. My mother decorated this room in grays, gray-blues, and red. The carpet was red and the design on the long drapes was red. A fireplace flanked by two windows dominated one wall. This was a room of many happy memories.

Five Minute Friday