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Monthly Archives: January 2020

How Many Times Do I Have To Fight The Same Battle?

20 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by Nicole Schrader in Personal Growth, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

battle, change, faith, fight, health, healthy, hope, Jesus, Personal Growth, win

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” (Margaret Thatcher)  Isn’t that the truth? How many times have I decided that I was going to conquer the mountain before me only to be beat down by the first peak?

Image by pasja1000 from Pixabay

This is my year for… 

I’m going to take that big leap into…

To be honest I think my internal GPS is on a permanent script of “recalculating”.

As I was sitting here today thinking about it all I realized that I have never accomplished any goal the way I thought I would.

Ever.

I have taken backroads, off ramps, and shortcuts that always seemed to lead me the long way around.

Image by Gerhard Gellinger from Pixabay

I have taken the successes and failures of others to heart and compared my own life to theirs.

Through it all I have learned a few things and they’ve stuck with me:

  1. No battle worth fighting is easy and in my experience once it is won (whatever the battle may be- health and nutrition, weight loss, addiction…)
  2. We have to continue the fight to keep it in the winners bracket.

The minute I let my guard down is the minute I begin to slip back into my old ways. Now I don’t mean that the battle is always difficult, but it is always before me. Things I have thought I conquered years ago suddenly rear their ugly heads and I find myself having to make a conscious effort to put them back in their place.  

I used to think that I was a failure because of those times. Now I realize that it’s just part of the process.

Image by klimkin from Pixabay

Do you want to win for good?

Then quit beating yourself up when you have to fight a battle over and over. It’s the battle that makes us strong, it gives us the ability to persevere, and ultimately be changed.

I love gold, but until you heat it up it contains all kinds of impurities. It’s the heat that allows those impurities to be removed and the beauty of the gold can then shine through.

You and I- we are like gold being refined. The fire that we hate, the battle that is long and tiresome- all of it is bringing us to a place where we can look back and see the beauty in it all.

The beauty in ourselves.

The kind of beauty that is so much deeper than what the mirror portrays.

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

We may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

True.

We may have to fight for months or years, but in the end I’ve never regretted the fight. I’ve always been glad I took on the challenge. Win or lose each and every battle has brought something out of me that I didn’t know existed. I’ve learned, I’ve grown, I’ve lost and I’ve won, and looking back I’m glad for all of it.

I’m not excited for the battle today (are we ever really?) but I am ready to fight. There is so much more to be accomplished than just a single goal and I am surrendering the battle before me to God. With him all things are possible and I know that I don’t have to fight alone. It’s a win win. I make progress and he changes me.  So, here I am welcoming so many battles I really don’t want to fight and I’m completely confident that it will be worth it.

Image by James Wheeler from Pixabay

How about joining me today?  Pick your battle, lace up your gloves and let’s fight together. Gold takes time to be perfectly refined and so do you and I and ya know what?  Both are beautifully worth it.

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Do Something That Scares You Everyday…

13 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by Nicole Schrader in Personal Growth, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

change, faith, help, hope, I am enough, I can change, I can do this, Jesus, scary

Last year I put a sign on my fridge at work that says- “Do something that scares you every day”. I needed the reminder to get out of the box I’d created for myself, to reach for new stars, and try new things.

The old saying that “if you want something new you have to stop doing something old” is such a solid truth. If we want something to change in our lives we have to change something in our lives.

It’s a simple concept that both my body and mind fight tooth and nail.  

Image by Denise Husted from Pixabay

I love staying right inside the box. I like my warm house, my comfort food and my baggy jeans. I’m a fan of surrounding myself with people who build me up and tell me that I’m perfect just the way I am. I need those people in my life. They are like a soft blanket that makes me feel safe and secure.

But what if I surround myself with another layer of people too? What if I begin to surround myself with people who challenge me? Who don’t let me stay in the box or on the couch? My daughter -in -law is one of these people. She is all the kindness of the soft blanket but often manages to kick me in the fanny just when I need it. (She can remind me that this is a good thing someday) She will often ask- have you written “this” yet? Have you started that challenging project yet?

To be honest, I need the push. If given to my own devices I might choose the couch over the project. I might choose comfort over the uncertainty of a new goal.

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

My son and daughter -in -law are not afraid to take on a challenge. They are what I call “get out of the boat” kind of people. Where I often want to tiptoe in until the water feels nice, they jump straight out of the boat into the turbulence and they swim. Do they hit every goal the way they thought they would? Do they have to make changes and re-directions often? The answer to both is yes. BUT the point is they live their lives outside of their comfort zones and their lives tell a story that challenges me to rewrite mine.

I am a believer that we should never stop learning, never stop putting ourselves out there- even and especially if we are unsure of ourselves. I recently told my son Zach that when we go through hard times in our lives we should pray that God changes us the way he knows we need it. I told him that we never really change or grow when things are easy and good. I gave him the unsolicited advice that he should embrace the tough times and just trust the process.

Image by Quang Le from Pixabay

I felt like mom of the year when I sent the message- until God pressed upon my own heart that I need to do this as well. Giving that advice was great, but am I living it?

Ouch.

So as this next decade begins my goal is to do just that. It’s time I turn up the heat, launch the boat, and dip my feet into the water. (notice that I did not say jump right in… I am still a work in progress here.)(I am thinking “outside the box” though so that’s good right?) I hope and pray that by the end of the decade I will have jumped right into that ocean of possibilities- but for now I’ve decided to just step out of my little box and look for new opportunities and challenges. I’m uncomfortable, I don’t like the uncertainty one bit, but there is something inside that is loving this.

I’m fully planning to surround myself with more people who will kick my fanny just when I need it and I can’t wait to write to you all in the next 10 years and see who God has made me to be at the end of it.Want to get out of the boat with me?  Come on in the water is- freezing and scary and crazy and I don’t know exactly what it means… but this is going to be a ton of fun.

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Happy-Why Can’t Life Go As Planned -New Year…

06 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by Nicole Schrader in Personal Growth

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

change, disappointment, Happy New Year, help, New hope, New Years, rolling with it

Isn’t this a great picture? Don’t we look like we are having a blast and just loving our time together?  Well we are…sorta, BUT- there is a very different reality behind this picture. So right now I want to give you a behind the scenes tour of what was really going on here.

First of all, my husband woke up with a fever and felt horrible all day. Originally, our plans were to have a great dinner together and play games late into the evening. Our oldest son and his wife would spend the night and we’d have the whole family here with us. I looked so forward to this time together. It was our middle son’s last night with us and I was ready to cherish every last second.

Instead, my husband ended up sleeping all day, only got up for dinner, and we didn’t let him touch anything. While he slept I frantically cleaned and disinfected everything he has ever even looked at in this house. We debated on having dinner together but decided that since it was Zach’s last night we’d go ahead with that part. Ryan got up long enough to eat, take a quick happy family selfie while not breathing on or touching anyone and then head back to the recliner. No games were played, no overnight stays from our older kids and Ryan was in bed by 9.

We were all disappointed but this is life and we roll with it right?

The next morning I got up and decided that I’d have coffee ready, put some bacon on, and spend some time with Jesus. I was determined to have a good attitude regardless of the disappointments of the night before and the dread of our son leaving tonight.

I may have gotten a little distracted while reading and praying this morning. Doesn’t this bacon look delicious? I literally had to scrape it from the pan, who knew bacon could stick so well?

I want to tell you that I sat and had a great cup of coffee while my family slept but I made the coffee and around here that says it all.

I can tell you this though- I enjoyed that coffee and I laughed at that bacon. 2020 may not have started the way I planned, but it’s still just as sweet. Last night my younger 2 sons and I talked for a very long time. We talked about everything, good, bad, funny, you name it. Then I went to bed exhausted and sad for this time coming to an end but so very grateful for every minute.

I wonder if things had gone as planned would we have had the time to talk?

I need to remind myself that there is good in the regrouping. There is hope in the burned bacon and the change of plans. Sometimes the silver lining is hard to find, but if we look close enough it is still there.

Guys, I’m not sure what 2020 is going to bring, I’m praying hard for a little less crazy and a whole lot more peace. I’m praying that the pictures I post on social media will be a little more transparent and a lot less perfect in appearance.

Photo Via Pixabay

Whatever comes our way, whatever this year has to bring I want you all to know that I love you, I’m so thankful to have you all with me on this journey through life and I will be praying for you too- every step of the way.

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Wife. Mom of three. Passionate lover of Jesus. Teacher. Writer. Speaker. Encourager. Believer in Hope.
I want to leave a legacy. I fail, I disappoint, but I hang on for dear life. My goal is to never, ever, not even for a second, give up. I hope this blog will inspire you to do the same.

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