April 2024 – Persevering and Maintaining
Hello there!
Look at me, already behind on month two of this project. When considering this venture, my fear was that I wouldn’t be capable of keeping up with a consistent upload schedule, so I made it as easy for myself as I could to start out with: first Thursday to share what I was hoping to accomplish in the month, and the last Thursday to wrap up and see what I actually did accomplish, with the weeks in-between open and available should I get an itch to share other things. Well, March went swimmingly! I did just that, and I was ready to jump into April and get two consistent months under my belt. Since this is being uploaded not on the first Thursday of April, we both see that isn’t how it turned out.
So, failure, right? Total flop, can’t continue, I missed my goal. Bye, bye, blogging world.
No. We both know that’s silly, right? This isn’t a failure – it’s an adjustment. What would be a failure is if I gave up on the notion of blogging after one single missed “deadline”. So join me on my journey of perseverance this month, and let’s see what all we have planned for April.
This month is going to be more of a maintenance month. I’ve got my eye on some smaller projects to work on when I can – I’m hoping to get my pantry organized and some deep cleaning done – but mostly I’m going to be focused on keeping up with where things are at the moment. Our life is a bit chaotic at the moment, and both my husband and I are feeling a need for some status quo rather than more change right now. I’ve also fallen off the diet-wagon this past week, which has left me feeling terrible as I detox now and with less of that energy I was so excited to be feeling. So back to it, and hopefully, it will get easier to stay on track as we go along.
I have tiny green things growing! We have some lettuce and garlic poking their heads out, and the potatoes are sprouting rapidly. It’s so encouraging to see them everyday – they are bigger each time, and I can’t wait to see what they yield for us as they mature.
In the kitchen, I’m trying my hand at making home-made hummus, ghee (clarified butter), and greens powder. Hummus has been a life-saver on our diet, and I had a supply of chickpeas in the pantry, so I thought, “why not grab some tahini and make some myself?” I look forward to seeing how it turns out. The ghee I’ve made before, so not a new project. I add powdered greens to a smoothie every so often, and I got the notion to try producing my own. If I can get in-season greens in bulk and dry them and powder them myself, it might be nice to have to add to things when green foods are less abundant. I’m loving discovering new ways to make my pantry go further and keep it stocked longer term! It’s a really nice feeling, making things myself sometimes.
This month is full to bursting with potential; I am eager to see if it turns out how I anticipate it will. Right now, I’m anticipating it being a bit of a stressful month, one that we will look at the backside of with relief. Whether or not that is the case, I hope to be able to look on it and see some growth somewhere in it, too. Isn’t that always the hope? To look back and at least see that, along the way, we changed and grew a little, even if the whole world was trying to hold us down and slow our progress.
The scripture I’d like to share today is Romans 5:1-5. The discussion is of how we can rejoice both in hope and in tribulations, and how tribulations bring about growth. “…knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” I think the principle is applicable. Hope disappears when we don’t push through a bend in the road to the other side, when we give up. As long as we keep working, and give ourselves the grace to change and learn and adapt to the situation, even as God does, we are not failing. It’s a daily decision – either we do it or we don’t. Today, I’m deciding to do, and see what happens.
Thank you for joining me, and I look forward to next time.
In Christian love, Jo.
