It’s easy to glide through life without stopping to consider where I’ve been or where I’m going. The Lord teaches me things all the time, and like the Israelites who wandered through the desert and forgot what God showed them months after He parted the Red Sea, I tend to forget what He’s showed me too. Remembering what He’s taught us doesn’t always have to be anything fancy. Sometimes it’s just a little list on the internet of things I learned.
5 Things I learned in February
About Facebook
I took a break from Facebook… and I learned that I don’t really miss it. I was considering giving up Facebook for Lent, but the more I thought about it, the more it just sounded really nice to give up Facebook for 6 weeks. That didn’t really sound like the type of thing I should give up as a sacrifice to remind me of my need for Jesus, but I still didn’t want to be on Facebook for at least 6 weeks. So I went ahead and deactivated my account.
Did you know that Facebook gives you a guilt trip when you deactivate the account? It showed me pictures of several people (most of whom were family) who would “miss me” while I was gone. Fortunately I was able to push past the guilt trip and so far I have no regrets, even though my sister texted me and said I missed out on something funny.
About Working from Home
Oklahoma weather was pretty exciting toward the end of the month. Due to lots of freezing rain, I had a couple afternoons and one full day working from home… and I learned that I loved it as much as I thought I would. It’s this homebody’s new favorite way to work. I feel like this is an important thing to know about myself. The key to a successful day working from home is to eliminate distractions before your willpower is weak and always have cozy drinks on hand.
About Buying a Vacuum
Charles and I received a hand-me-down vacuum from my sister when we got married. We didn’t really want to spend the money on a new one and they had recently upgraded from their thirteen-year-old vacuum, so they generously gave it to us. It smelled kind of funny from the pounds and pounds of dirt and pet hair it had sucked up in its lifetime, so Charles and I gave it a good cleaning that took a couple hours. We were careful to let everything dry for a whole week before we put it back together and tried it out. It worked! The smell was 100x better. But then I bumped it against the bookshelf (tell me, have you ever not run into things when vacuuming?) and it cracked in half.
It cracked in half. I hopefully suggested duct tape to Charles, who pointed out that the poor vacuum was past the point of duct tape, so I did several hours of intense research looked into purchasing a new vacuum and we ended up buying a used version of this one:
What I learned was that buying a vacuum as an adult is incredibly exciting. I was giddy when the UPS guy dropped it off at our door. Unfortunately, when it arrived there were a couple plastic pieces broken, so we had to return it. Fortunately, my runner up was a vacuum from Target, and we still had a couple gift cards from our wedding. To my surprise and delight, the one we wanted was on sale! Double win! So we ended up going with this vacuum instead. I haven’t tested it out yet, but I know I’m going to love it.
About New Clothes
One of my goals this year is to work on my professional development now that I’ve graduated college. Part of being professional is looking professional (and, admit it, that’s the most fun part). I haven’t been dressing sloppy at work, but I knew I could step it up. I’ve been thinking a lot about buying quality pieces instead of getting my things at Old Navy when they only last for one or two years. Enter Thred Up. I was able to get quite a few new pieces that were great brands and great quality, and I didn’t have to invest a ton of money into them. Some of the things included a wool coat, a blouse, and a pair of nice high heels. If you use this link, it’ll give you $10 to spend at Thred Up, and I’ll get $10 too.
About Being Alone
Introverting feeds my soul. Anyone who knows me could have told me that. It’s an obvious one. But the last couple years have been a real busy season for me and I haven’t given myself a lot of downtime. I didn’t realize it, but it kind of feels like I’m suffocating my soul. When I let myself read and think and listen and be still, it feels like food and air and nourishment for my heart. When I listened to this podcast, it clicked. Reading and writing and thinking feels a little bit like coming home to myself. I plan to give myself much more alone time in the coming season.
Now tell me, what did you learn in February?
