Look Back. Look Forward: February Tending List

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wheew. What a month– A wonderful, packed month of good food, learning, sharing, questioning, story telling, and great people. Last night, my husband and I realized we have pretty much been surrounded by people (other than each other) for three weeks straight. Which made for a super sharpening and encouraging month but also exhausting (not to mention a few I-failed-at-loving-my-spouce-well marriage moments too).

Verse of the Month

My husband and I marked down monthly spiritual retreats on the calendar for the year. We were tired of saying, “let’s do a spiritual retreat” and forgetting to make time for it or prioritizing other things. We were tired of spending sabbaths doing other things besides spending extended time with the One who truly restores the soul. Today was our first spiritual retreat morning. We decided on a 2 hour Sacred Reading of Scripture (also known as Lectio Devina) focused on one of the Christ Hymns —Philippians 2:5-11. Basically we focused on those verses (and only those verses for 2 hours) and it was wonderful. We engaged in the practice individually and then came back together to discuss what we learned.

“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.”
Philippians 2:5 CSB

We should be adopting an anti-entitlement, servanthood, empty-myself, humble, obedient attitude. Rather than our default attitude of entitlement, selfishness, comfort, pride, immediate gratification attitude. umm– – – convicting!

Adventure of the Month

This month, our adventure was a little more epic than a neighborhood camping trip; it was a trip to Malaysia. Like I mentioned before, it was a wonderful time of good food and great fellowship. We left feeling renewed and encouraged. A few other highlights were a western hair cut (a trim not a butcher), IKEA, bubble tea, running in 90 degree weather (which my body rejected because we came from running in the 30s and 40s), walks along jetties (beautiful little markets built over the water), and a western grocery store packed with everything under the sun (which was actually super overwhelming).

Favorite Foods or Recipes

we were in Malaysia so we enjoyed beef and sushi
we tried Durian (a sticky fruit that is banned from many public places in Asia due to the rancid smell)

Vegan Spicy Thai Peanut Ramen – noodles, coconut milk, peanut butter, a hint of red curry paste, lots of veggies. We made this when we got home from being out of the country. It’s super delicious and easy.

Books I read or listened to

The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Earley- You should totally read this book. So so good and formative as you think about your habits, rhythms, time and becoming more like Christ.
You are the Girl for the Job by Jess Connolly – full of truth and encouragement for the season and the job that God has you in right now.

Creative Outlet

This month, some girls and I gathered around a table and created artist trading cards. I didn’t know this was even a thing and out of the eight of us, only two are actually real artists but we all loved it.

Revisiting my January Tending List

monthly

~~Enjoy Malaysia and be present with others~~
schedule time to talk with siblings -yes…kind of… too bad I can’t do a half-crossed-off sentence?
~~schedule abiding retreats and put on calendar~~
plan dinner club and invite (decided to postpone until next month)
~~plan language schedule~~
~~Brainstorm and create list for indoor and outdoor dates~~
~~Declutter/ unsubscribe to emails~~
~~Create Blog post and upload~~
~~create social media vision and mission statement~~

daily

~~train for 1/2 marathon~~

February Tending List