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i'm dreaming of a white (space) Christmas

Oct212013

Like what I did there?

Over the next few days I’ll be talking about white space and the holiday season. (And my fantastic friend Nina created the sweet little button for me on a moment’s notice.)

October, November, and December are my favorite months of the year. October is full of beginnings. A new season, crisp air, football season and chili on the stove.

November is my birthday month and my mom’s birthday month. There’s Thanksgiving and more football and a really sweet parade. And the welcoming of the Christmas holiday season.

And December. Well, December is usually a whirlwind. A rush of a month that is gone before we can blink and we wonder where in the world it went.

I do enjoy the rush of it. I’m a rusher. But this white space challenge came at the right time.

I don’t want to see December 26 come and realize that I wasn’t intentional. That we didn’t make the most of those sweet nights at home watching Home Alone and White Christmas by the fire. Or that we didn’t ever look at our advent calendar, and instead we just hopped from obligation to obligation and completely missed it.

So how do you do it? How do you have fun with Christmas, be a “yes” person in the best way possible, and not wear yourself completely out?

The purpose of creating white space is not to become a hermit. But it is to make sure that you are trusting God to be in control of your schedule and peace of mind… and not allowing someone or something to be in control of your schedule and peace of mind.

Over the next few days I’m going to explore that. Join me?

This is day 21 of 31 Days of Creating White Space

white space = rest

Filed Under: 31 days, White Space

Oct202013

God believed in us having rest so much that He made it one of his ten commandments.

This is the day that I look around and say, “Yes, God, it’s good. This is so good.”

While we’re tempted to keep pushing and growing and filling up our time and our home with stuff and obligations to stay afloat, he tells us to trust Him. Our peace depends on our trust in Him. And without any white space, we don’t have peace.

This week, I felt a little defeated when my laptop quit working…because I still have so much I’m learning that I want to share. I had a few things come up that added more to my to-do list that I’m been working so hard to cut back to basics.

But there was so much good. Here’s a little Insta-recap of the past week. (If you’re not following me on Instagram, you probably haven’t seen all of these yet.)

Our house got cabinets! Seriously. This was big stuff.

We had the opportunity to go on a really fun play date to the farm with pumpkins and animals and tractors and a hot dog roast. So much fun!

My precious husband sent me flowers.

We celebrated a sweet little friend’s second birthday.

I had a long FaceTime conversation with one of my best friends, Catherine.

Hudson and I made some fun Moon Pie Owls together.

We went to the South Carolina State Fair with some good friends and their kids, and everyone had a blast

Todd and Hudson got to play golf with some friends today.

We’ve had great family time together and we’ve been able to invest in other friends this week, as well.

All the white space has been so good. It hasn’t been used for productivity, but it’s been used for relationships.

What were the best things about your week this week?

stop. and breathe.

Filed Under: 31 days, White Space

Oct192013

“Enjoy all the things you’re doing because you’re not doing all the things.”

Andy Stanley, “Breathing Room”

I hope you have a beautiful weekend of celebrating October, being surrounded by people you love, and by enjoying the things you love to do. I hope you find yourself trusting Him and His plan for you by knowing your limits and believing that He has you covered. He knows your needs and you can trust Him to cover it. Stop living in fear. Stop living to please. And believe that you matter, not because of what you do or what you own, but because He first loved you.

This is Day 19 of 31 Days of Creating White Space

the white screen of rest

Filed Under: 31 days, White Space

Oct182013

*Yesterday, I wrote a post for Ashley called Peace in the Process, and I’d love it if you would go over there and read it to see how we’ve found peace on this little year-long journey to contentment.

I had a small little series within this series planned to start today all about finding white space in the Christmas season. But my trusty Macbook gave me the “white screen of death” this morning, so let’s all say a little prayer that it’s just a “white screen of rest.” Maybe my laptop needed some white space, too. (Thank goodness we have another machine around here that I could use.)

So the Christmas posts will have to wait.

And, golly, I have so much to say, still! We’re on Day 18 of this white space journey, and I am curious to know how many of you are living this with me? And living this with Whitney? And anyone else who has done this and lived it and wanted to jump in and encourage.

If you want to catch up on the past 18 days, here are all of the posts of 31 Days of Creating White Space. But I would love to hear from you. Community and relationship is the whole idea behind creating white space for me. I’m creating space for God to move and space to see the good and space to foster community.

Day One: Why White Space?

Day Two: My Need for White Space

Day Three: fear & striving

Day Four: Who stole my white space?

Day Five: White space & the weekend

Day Six: white space = rest

Day Seven: the wardrobe & white space

Day Eight: goals to create white space

Day Nine: your home is your story

Day Ten: #onebigtruth

Day Eleven: planning an organized home

Day Twelve: white space & the weekend (2)