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from beer to eternity

February 27, 2009

Gary is an alcoholic who has been sober for over 20 years. He is beginning to tell his story. Honest and relevant, this story will be one of heartbreak and healing. And of great consequence to me, as Gary is my Dad. He has only written the first two posts out of many, but I wanted to link to them here for those of you who may be interested in reading of the miracle of a changed life.

eternity

Click on the titles to read the first two posts in the series:

Gary starts getting drunk

I turn 21 and Dad takes me to “The Cozy” in the strip mall behind our house for my first celebratory drink as a legal-age real person.  I guess that’s how it started with him when he turned 21…

Like Father…

I’m in my teens before I realize Dad is an alcoholic, drinks pretty much all day every day, and is the unhappiest man I’ll ever know….

Filed Underinspired 15 Comments

more on doing less

February 26, 2009

rest

Rest of mind and heart is still on my mind. As I’ve peeked in on a few other friends this week, it is on their minds as well. Amber from The Run-a-Muck wrote on finding quietness of spirit earlier this week.

Most of the time I don’t ask for much more than survival. Give me this day my breath, my brushed teeth, my potty break in silence. I’ve been rolling out of  bed with my spirit gasping for time, for relationship, and for an affirmative in the presence of God. Read more…

The following is a comment Melissa of The Inspired Room left on Amber’s post and I had to share it here. Read and be reminded. I can’t hear this enough:

Those days of the little ones seem never ending, until you look back and in a blink of an eye they are over! so many things i thought i needed to accomplish back then, but in hindsight none were really important. fixing the meals, wiping their faces and kissing their cheeks and falling on my face before the Lord each day is about all i should have expected of myself and all God ever expected of me.

And so you don’t think that all I do online is stalk Amber and her comments, I ran across this useful post several weeks ago. Simple Mom wrote on  Productivity and Quality Downtime, allowing yourself to have ‘nothing’ time. I realized as I read it that I typically have either get-it-done time or guilty-that-I’m-not-getting-it-done time. She offers a balanced perspective.

Finally, Kimba is continuing her series today on Building A Soft Place To Land. She approaches this idea of rest and balance as it relates to blogging and is moderating a big fat bloggy conversation about it in her comments section.

We  need to hear this stuff. We just do. And I don’t care if you are a home schooling mother of eight or a single girl with a full time job. Rest is important. Quiet is important. Reflection is important. Balance is important. And doing all of that in the presence of One who loves us with an everlasting love just because we’re His and not because we’re perfect? That, my sweet friends, is rest indeed.

Tagged Filed Underinspired 25 Comments

be more. do less.

February 23, 2009

whiteflower

In the midst of an active, blurry week, The Man came home from a walk with a friend who asked him this question: Are you willing to be more and do less? The words stopped me in my dinner making, clothes washing, nose wiping tracks. On the scale of life, these days my doing far outweighs my being.

Be more. Do less. It sounds as blissful as it does unrealistic. I hear the mocking voice of reason, the one telling me how the sentiment is nice, but the reality is that things just have to get done. There is no room for rest, for still, for quiet. The words repeat like a drumbeat in the background.

Do. Act. Work. Produce.

But there is another Voice. The voice of One who invites me to abide in Him and rest. He renews, restores and redeems. In the inspired words of Sarah Young, He bends time in my favor. And the gentle rhythm of truth rises from within.

Be. Trust. Receive. Respond.

When I live as though I believe that’s true, activity doesn’t stop. Rather it takes on new life. It doesn’t require an entire day of quiet reflection, although I wouldn’t turn it down. It is purposing in my heart not to fret.  It is allowing the day to go as it will. It is holding my plans with an open hand and a willing heart. When I have a chance to either be still or check my email, I can choose to be still. Not every time. Just this time.

Even in the midst of lots of activity, our souls have permission to rest. I don’t always choose rest, but this is a sweet reminder to me that I have options.

Filed Undera writer 61 Comments

from ugh to ahh in 10 minutes or less

February 19, 2009

8b9a73a8-1

The Nester is doing a series featuring simple things you can do in your home right now to make it a little more inviting. Her tips require only 10 minutes and no money so I have no excuse. Here’s mine:bed-before

I walked upstairs this afternoon to get something from our bedroom and my first reaction was ugh get me out of here. This room is a wreck. But then I remembered her simple tips: Turn on the lamps. Make the bed. Remove the clutter. Add pretty pillows.

bed-after

Ahh, yes. So much better. Not rocket science.  But here’s the secret: you have to actually do it. I felt so much better afterward. Of course, it only took my kids 10 seconds to make my room more inviting:

bed-kids

At least the base is set. Thanks Nester. To see more simple room transformations or to add one of your own, go here. To see the intro to the series, simply click on the button below that is so cute I had to use twice.

Tagged Filed Undera house-lover, a mess, a sister 61 Comments

she speaks {and then some}

February 18, 2009

Since I’ve returned from BlissDom, I’ve been processing a lot of information that was shared, proof that we really did do more than eat, take photos, type on laptops and wear cute shoes. I am still wading through the facts and my opinions about branding, marketing, monetizing and social networking. But I am mainly thinking about blogging as a writer.

Last year, I attended the She Speaks conference held by Proverbs 31 ministry to equip writers, speakers and women in church leadership. I attended the sessions on writing and learned a lot while I was there.  I also attended the two sessions available about writing on a blog. Because of heightened interest in those sessions, P31 decided to expand the blogging aspect of the conference this year to include an entire track dedicated to blogging.

she-speaks-qa

photo from Blogging Q&A session during She Speaks 2008.

Guess who is co-leading two of those sessions?

*crickets chirping*

*chirping stops abruptly*

*panic-stricken crickets stunned into silence*

*deep breath*

You guessed right. WHAT?! Are you kidding me?!  Last year I was glued to the edge of the wall near the exit during the bloggers mingle thing because I was nearing hyperventilation and didn’t know a single dingle soul. And this year I’m supposed to SPEAK?! Using my…voice? I did the writers track for a REASON, people.

If I wasn’t so excited about the topics, I don’t think I could do this. But it will be worth it. Defining and Refining the Purpose of Your Blog is the session I’m doing with my sister The Nester.  And Bloggy Photography 101 will be with Dawn of My Home Sweet Home which I’m not nearly as nervous about because Dawn is a real, bonafide grown up and I’m following her lead.

Not that my sister isn’t a grown up. Its just that sometimes when we’re together, we get the giggles. And then I start snorting and she has to sit with her legs crossed to keep from peeing and it is just generally not very inclusive or attractive. Or appropriate to do in front of an audience. At a conference. Where people have paid real money to attend. And learn something.

sisters

I am excited, nervous and apparently all shades of crazy. Not to mention eyebrowless, according to this photo. But I look forward to this summer for the opportunity to step into the unknown, as much as I hate everything about the unknown. It seems a long way off now, but registration is open so if you are thinking about coming, I would encourage you to sign up soon-like. The conference will be held in Charlotte, NC from July 31 – August 2. Now seriously, where are my eyebrows?

click here for the conference website

speaker2

Tagged Filed Undera photographer, a sister, a writer 40 Comments

chasing inspiration

February 16, 2009

junction

Our first home was a two bedroom condo situated in the midst of widows and retirees. We spent the first years of our marriage there, we brought the twins home from the hospital there, we watched them grow to toddling 18-month-old girls. But it was small and I couldn’t wait to move. I had dreams of a big backyard, a third bedroom and neighbors within at least 20 years of our current life stage.

When the day finally came to move into a house, I was shocked to discover a deep sadness that welled up out of me and wrapped itself around me like an ugly, over-sized coat. As I vacuumed the empty condo one last time, the tears and grief over leaving it overcame me with a vengeance. It was an inappropriate response to such a longed for, anticipated event. What was wrong with me?! It was then that I began to realize how change affects me.

On a smaller scale, I am in that place once again as I settle into my new bloggy space. It is unfamiliar and is taking me some time to get acquainted. I’ve painted the walls and laid down the carpet, but my stuff is still in boxes and I can’t find the scissors. Please bear with me as I find my way around over here.

I’m learning that Inspiration is a tiny, sparkly, fairy. She is delightful and lovely, but you have to catch her first. As it turns out, she is spooked by change. When I find her, you’ll be the first to know.

Filed Undera girl, a house-lover, a mess, a photographer 29 Comments

from blogger to wordpress

February 13, 2009

Many of you have asked why I decided to switch from Blogger to WordPress. And seeing as how my brain is in a creative prison as of late, this type of post comes easy. This was somewhat of a hot topic at the conference this weekend as well so I wanted to share some of the reasons why I switched.

Address

When I first started a blog, I never considered the importance of having a URL that was easy to remember. Thus, emmafree.blogspot became my permanent address. Which would have been fine, except for the fact that Emma Free is not my name. Strike one. At BlissDom both in October and this past weekend, the panelists emphasized the importance of streamlining your bloggy identity. Ooops. Strike Two.  Now, I know it is possible to have your own domain name on Blogger (like ChattingAtTheSky.com), as many of you do. But before I made that switch, there were a couple of other issues I was concerned about.

Multiple Pages

Blogger does not have a multiple page option and this is one of the main reasons I decided to switch platforms. Basically, I wanted to avoid the sidebar. Sidebars in general don’t bother me, but showcasing the words and the photos are my top priority. However, a sidebar serves a purpose so I needed a place to put sidebar things like archives, about me, and links. Though I have seen lots of Blogger blogs fake the multiple page option beautifully, Kate suggested if I ever wanted to expand the blog in the future (adding a page for photography, perhaps?) that WordPress would be the best option. I took her word for it.

Space

When uploading my photos to Blogger, I noticed my allotted space percentage was climbing. When I got to 46%, I began to wonder what would happen when I got to 100%? I didn’t want to stick around to find out. As far as I know, Blogger doesn’t currently have an upgrade option for bloggers to purchase more space. Though I’ve never heard of anyone being kicked off Blogger because they used too much space, I also couldn’t find anyone to assure me it wasn’t possible. I thought perhaps it was time to pay a little bit a year for more space and move to a platform where I could self-host.

blogger-images

If you want to know how much of your allotted space you are using, you can find it when you upload your photos to Blogger as seen in the screen shot above next to the orange Upload Image button in small print.

Edited to add: You CAN purchase more storage space from Google. And hosting photos through an external provider like Flickr or SmugMug is a good way to conserve space. Okay. Carry on.

design and function

This is another area where I followed Kate’s advice. Basically, WordPress has the ability to be fancy, more so than Blogger. And, it has more umph when it comes to PlugIns. Or so I’m told. Techy people seem to think that is important.

If you don’t know much about code and you don’t have a Kate, I would stick with Blogger. There are a variety of templates to choose from that can be applied in minutes without much work. It is not so simple in WordPress. You don’t have to be concerned with computery things as much on Blogger. Posting and uploading photos are equally simple, though WordPress has a cool media library that stores your uploaded photos whereas Blogger simply stores the photos within each post.

so far so good

I really like WordPress so far. It feels clean and simple. I don’t think Blogger is bad. I liked Blogger, honestly. It was easy. But the timing of this mades sense for me and I was ready to try it out. If I begin to regret my decision, I’ll let you know. This is not an exhaustive Blogger vs. WordPress post by any means. I don’t know enough lingo for that. Feel free to add your reasons for switching  or staying put in the comments section.

additional resources

Hosted Blog Comparison: WordPress vs. Blogger

Which Blog Service is the Best?

Self-Hosted WordPress vs. Blogger: A Newbie’s Perspective

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

Tagged Filed UnderUncategorized 23 Comments
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