Forty Days (and Forty Nights)

Hello friends and family!! It's me again and I'm back with some exciting news! Did you guys make any 2019 goals, resolutions, revelations, whatever you call it?  I think January is always one of the most commonly thought-of times to ponder what you want to do next.  Well, I am no different! I started reflecting on this past year and all that God has brought me through and taught me about myself and about His love for me. 

This year has brought a lot of different circumstances, emotions, changes, etc...and one of those changes is that before we left our last church, God stretched me into confidence to use His gifts in me to share with others.  I never thought I would be on stage playing piano or singing in front of people, but when it's all for God's glory, the focus is on Him, not me!

I hadn't touched the piano since 2009 when I left a ministry that I loved so dearly so that I could take care of my growing family.  But this past year, God has brought it back into my life through filling a need on the worship team here and there.  It has become such a habit for me to just sit down and play for 30-45 minutes every night and I realized how much I love to express myself in worship through music. 

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

    break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Psalm 98:4 ESV

This new entry of music back into my life has sparked an idea...this is the exciting news I wanted to share with you guys!  FORTY.DAYS.  Including today, I have FORTY DAYS before I return to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon in Mexico to reconnect with people through God's work.  So, forty days is sort of one of those "magical" (so to speak...) numbers that we read in the Bible, right?  

So, I thought. And I wondered.  What can I do with these next forty days as I prepare myself for ministry? I made a list, natch....And here's what I came up with:

• Play piano and sing 1 hour each day
• Drink 12 cups of water each day - 2 extra cups for any soda consumption
• Write 1,000 words each day
• Do 1 thing for someone else that's out of my normal routine

I had some other ideas come to mind, but I didn't want to overwhelm myself.  Maybe I will save them for my next growth spurt.  You'll notice these aren't actual goals with an end date or specific level of accomplishment, but I feel like building these things into my daily routine will not only start developing my skills, promote my health and probably lose a little weight, but also keep me away from those "negative" things, those things that are a time suck and when you're finished, you feel like you've killed some brain cells because of it....you guys know what I'm talking about right??? 

I would love to hear what some of your goals are - heck, maybe I can "borrow" some of them! So, leave them in the comments below or on the FB post where you saw this post linked if you want!

Love you guys, thanks for reading and following along!

Erin