Creative Prayer and Journaling

I've always been a journal keeper. I even have a box in storage of journals. Most I've even written in. I love the potential of a fresh new journal. Especially beautiful leather bound books. But I'm admittedly not consistent and I tend to write more when I'm in a bad mood. I used to resolve every year to write more, then beat myself up when I'd miss large blocks of time. I'd get discouraged about feeling like I needed to fill in the blanks and get too busy for the time I thought it would take. So when I went to mom's group that morning in late January, I had already resolved yet again to restart with journaling. I was also looking for a creative outlet resolving to scrapbook more or do some sort of artsy-fartsy thing.

Enter Anna: guest speaker, fellow prayer group member and soon-to-be friend. What Anna taught us that day changed my life. I'm not trying to be dramatic; I truly believe learning about Creative Prayer was a breakthrough for me. She shared example after example in the bible of God's creativity and beauty. (Genesis 1:1, Psalm 139:13-14, Isaiah 64:8, Psalm 145:9, Ecclesiastes 3:11a just to list a few.) I was trying to calm a baby who needed her morning nap but something about this topic clicked with me and I knew I was the one who needed to hear it. Anna also kept it simple, for me at least. This is from her notes she handed out: 

Where to start:

Prepare your heart. Read Scripture, take some deep breaths, whatever helps you remember that you are entering into God’s presence as you begin to create (rather than just sitting down to draw or make a craft).  It can be helpful to choose a Scripture on which to meditate, especially if you’re not sure where to start.  Ask God to speak to your heart, teach you, and show you who He is and who you are in Him.

Begin your creative prayer session!  It can be helpful to move through some of the kinds of biblical prayer: Adoration, confession, petition, intercession, and thanksgiving.  As you focus on who God is, meditate on your scripture, and express yourself to God, create in parallel with this conversation.

Both of these prayer practices result in a physical product that serves as a reminder of my time with God and what he taught me; it is a reminder of his presence, a reminder of a Scripture, a reminder to pray.

Remember: Don’t be intimidated or hindered by perfectionism! God wants your attention, not your perfection.  It’s about your heart and it’s about God; it’s not about the end product.

God wants my attention! Just like my own children want my attention or when I want theirs. He wants mine. This whole thing just made sense to me.

Then Anna led the group in an exercise of praying in color showing us different ways to intercede on behalf of others by doodling around their names, meditating on scripture or even just drawing with God and letting Him take over. She even talked about times she would do this while coloring with her son. (I thought that might be something I could try, then I realized our son doesn't really sit down to color. But I still liked the idea.)

So I came home and resolved I would try. The first few days were a bit rough but I did it. I'll admit life was kind of in a difficult place when I started all this. I didn't know what to pray for or where to even focus. Mostly I just prayed that God would give us direction. When I borrowed the twistable crayons that Cade doesn't care for, I really started to enjoy my time 'doodling'. I'm a very visual person and there's something appealing about a pretty page. Now I'm hooked! If there's a day that goes by that I don't spend my 15 to 20 minutes in devotion, I feel it. 

For anyone wanting to try, here's what I do:

• Start on a fresh page and only concentrate on filling one page for the day.

• Write the date at the top.

• I've started adding little notes about the day's events. We've had some big events lately so it's fun to see, for example, the day we sold our house.

• Find a verse that speaks to me for the day (or read my daily devotion page from the study I'm doing with Jenny.) A lot of times I use the kLove daily verse.

• Write down the verse and then take the time to make it look pretty. Focus on each word as I trace over it, committing the verse more to memory. (I can't say that I actually memorize them but I can paraphrase quite a bit more now.)

• That all gets me "centered" and ready to pray.

• Draw a sun because sun's are bright, powerful and make me feel good--that symbolizes God for me and is my way of opening up prayer.

• Then depending on my mood or what's on my heart, I'll draw stick figures of people as I pray for them, draw pictures of things like the uhaul as I pray about that, write out words or lists. If I'm not in a particularly good mood, I'll make an effort to write all the things I'm thankful for and remind myself of how I've been blessed. I've learned to be very specific in my prayers. God does amazing things!

• Conclude/wrap up my thoughts and write "Amen" somewhere on the page.

• Go about my day.

I've learned over these few months that I have a better day if I make the effort in the morning. Some days I get interrupted and the page is only half done. I try to come back to it but I don't worry about it if I don't. Even a half page is enough to get my mind focused on my relationship with God and communicating with him throughout the day. I think I've even made a believer out of my husband. Now he'll make sure I get my devotion time because he's seen the power of prayer in our life. (But that might be a story for another post.) And, as I advised a young friend of mine, I don't have to worry about anyone who might read it because what I draw really only has meaning for me.

I highly recommend Creative Prayer and Journaling! Even if you don't consider yourself a 'believer', you can still use it to meditate and call upon the law of attraction or the power of positivity. It's very therapeutic! There's no way I could be going through this crazy move without it.

Thank you . . .

First off, let me just say that I know I'm going to forget someone and for that I'm sorry. There have been SO many incredible people that have helped us out recently. I am overwhelmed with how blessed I feel by your love and support. If I neglected to thank you, please know that I am thankful for you.

• To God for answering prayers in His time and making the way for us.
• To Courtney, Tayla, Nancy, Laura, Stephanie and Julie who let me pawn my child/children off on them so I could run errands, pack or clean.
• To all the Lax bros (and girl) for your help packing and loading.
• To the Ninety-Nines for the going away lunch and all the help cleaning the house one final time. Especially Elizabeth for shampooing the carpets.
• To everyone who bought anything from me or at the moving sale so I didn't have to bring it with us.
• To Stephanie, Tayla, Abby, Shannon, Gary and Tricia for helping at the moving sale.
• To Kara and her family for being the right buyer for our house and helping make that process quick and painless. And to our realtor Tracy for that matter!
• To my prayer girls Laura, Anna, Jenny, Janelle, Abby and all the moms at BLOOM and book club.
• To Courtney and Skyler for your friendship, meals and encouraging us to find change.
• To Tayla for helping me remember the excitement of the 'engagement' when the weight of the planning became too much.
• To Mom and Dad for borrowing baby stuff to make our stay more comfortable, and all your help scanning in documents and dealing with offers and counter offers. And for encouraging me to come visit.
• To my father-in-law for driving the uhaul across the country and enduring altitude sickness for us. And to my mother-in-law for meeting us in Chicago and letting us invade your space.
• To Sam for letting us crash your quiet life with our not-so quiet chaos.
• To anyone who brought me coffee. You know who you are and it was wonderful!
• To Ross for taking this leap of faith and being willing to go outside the comfort zone. And for bringing me along for the ride.

Thank you.

Are we there yet?

Say this with me in your best impression of a very whiny five year old: "Are we there yet?"

No, not yet. Sorry. Because before we can get to Singapore, there's a few stops along the way.

Stop one was really more of a pre-stop. You might remember I mentioned the trip to Alaska in the last post? Well we took our two little ones up to Wasilla for my brother's wedding. (My dad never did show me where Sarah Palin lives.) Turned out to be a very lovely wedding (Congrats K & K!) and a great excuse to see everyone (and remind ourselves why we don't live in Alaska any longer.) Plus the plane ride from Portland to Anchorage was a great dry run. For example, we learned that Cade needs water, plenty of snacks (not the expensive kind bought on the plane), his huge ninja turtles pillow and full battery power on the tablet.

Next was a series of stops as we road-tripped from Klamath to the Salt Lake area where I have a bunch of family. After we closed on our house, packed up the uhaul with our remaining stuff, cleaned the house sufficiently for the new owners, and tried not to get emotional as we said our goodbyes, we drove away. We stayed that night in Burns reliving memories of a previous lacrosse related outing and having fun in the indoor pool. Then the next day we crossed into Idaho. So long Oregon! We went shopping in Meridian before staying in, oh gosh, what was the name of that town? It's only been a few weeks but hmm, let me think. Burley! That's where it was. 

The next day we crossed into Utah. Buh-bye Idaho. We visited my Grandma and had a nice time catching up with her. I helped her learn how to use her phone so she could text and we took a selfie together. Then we went to my aunt's house for dinner. I have a large extended family and realize that I love large gatherings because of this. Dinner was awesome. For me. For my kids, it took a bit of warming up to all the relatives as more and more people came through the door. We did make a very important connection between my family and my love (and Elise's love) for black olives. It's so fun to say "Oh! That's where you get that from."

Saturday morning the kids and I took a flight from Salt Lake to Chicago. After we were past security, Ross started his long drive to St. Louis. (Side bar, Ross's dad meanwhile is driving our uhaul o' stuff from Klamath to Illinois. We can't say thank you enough!) So the kids and I fly to Chicago. Thankfully I felt prepared after the Alaska flights. In Chicago, Ross's mom met us at baggage claim and said the sweetest words I've heard in a long time: "dear, I'll take the kids; why don't you go get something from Starbucks right there?" Ahhhhh, love her! From there, we loaded into a shuttle van and drove to Geneseo . . . you need to look that one up? I'll wait . . . where my father-in-law had already arrived with our uhaul. 

And that brings us back to me living in my in-laws basement. Which really has been an ideal setup. Elise is in the laundry room and I can shut the door so it's nice and quiet for her. Cade is in the guest room and feels like he has his own space. And I've completely taken over the rest of the basement. It's spacious, I can call it my own for now and they even set up a TV/dvd for me. I am so thankful for how this has all worked out.

In a few weeks, Ross will come collect us and we will head to St. Louis and fly away. Good thing I still have a little time to wrap my head around that. Then it's on to Singapore!

How we sold our house in 15 days.

Step 1. Buy a house you love (ignore the fact that it's 2005 and the housing market is about to crash; you love it. 'Nuff said.)
Step 2. Decide in 2012 that you need a change and put the house on the market.
Step 3. Endure a year of keeping a show ready house while having one toddler and a baby on the way.
Step 4. Get one offer that falls through.
Step 5. Give up.
*Don't actually give up.*
Step 6. Get a job that requires a move overseas and the motivation to not have a house to worry about.
Step 7. Call the realtor that actually showed your house a lot, is familiar with it and turns out to be the realtor from the one offer. Explain situation and desire for an aggressive agent. Be impressed with her aggressiveness. (Looking for a realtor in Klamath Falls? I've got the gal for you!)
Step 8. Spend the next three weeks getting the house packed, tidied, ready to go.
Step 9. Plan a trip to Alaska. (This is an important step, really can't leave it out.)
Step 10. Have a full home inspection and the pest/dry rot inspection done before you leave on vacation.
Step 11. Sell all your furniture and a lot of what you own.
Step 12. Put the rest of what you own in your garage so that the house appears vacant.
Step 13. Go on vacation. While you are gone, have the realtor actually list the house, take pictures, show it, have an offer, counter, and accept before you even get back. (For the record, I told my hubby that would happen if we went to my brother's wedding. And it did!)
Step 14. Repair minor things from inspection upon return, sign papers and close in 15 days.
Step 15. Thank the Lord and sing his praise as you drive out of town with a sold house behind you.
Really, it's that simple. In these easy steps you too can sell your home in 15 days!

Why Singapore? A little backstory.

Why not?
I guess the better question is: How did you come up with Singapore as the next chapter of your life?
Like all stories married people tell, my version is probably different than what my hubby would write. Well, this is my blog so *sticks tongue out*, it's my version of the story. Maybe I can talk him into guest writing some time. Anyhoo, we moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon in 2005 . . . I'll wait while you look it up on the map . . . when Ross got out of the military and took a job at Boeing. The job was awesome (on paper) and we may have ignored some sage advice to perhaps reconsider the location (Oregon is Oregon, right?). We moved, we bought a house, we got a dog, Ross got college degrees, I participated in community theater, we got our pilot's licenses, we had two kids, all these great things. And then we seemed stuck. There wasn't much career potential for either of us; I'd been laid off twice due to the downturn of the economy. We just knew it wasn't where we wanted to be and we were ready for the next chapter. I felt drawn to Portland (keep Portland weird!) but it never seemed to work out. So we were searching for something.
One day I'm at BLOOM (the local moms' group--awesome group, love those gals) and my friend Anna taught us about Creative Prayer. This concept blew my mind! I could use my creative tendencies to build a better closer relationship with God? I was sold. I started combining some of her tips with my desire to journal more. Oooh, maybe I'll have a blog entry about Creative Prayer Journaling. It's life changing. But I digress. So I start doing that and I start praying for God to provide direction and strength for us, for my hubby, everything. I felt lost I'll admit. But I had Faith.
Then Ross comes home and this is the conversation, as I remember it . . .
  Ross: I found this job I'd like and I'm pretty qualified for.
  Cherry: Ok, apply for it.
  R: Well, there's a catch.
  C: Ok . . .
  R: It's in Singapore.
  C: Ok, apply for it.
I didn't even flinch, which I think made him nervous. Ross already knows this so it's ok to share: he'd applied for several other jobs and nothing had come of those. Heck, I had interviewed for other jobs and nothing came of those either. So I didn't really know if this would materialize and figured I could cross that bridge later.
Then the job closed.
Then he got bumped to being considered instead of insta-rejected. (Way to go hubby!!)
Then he got a phone interview. (Annnnddd I looked up Singapore. Where?!)
Then the phone interview was long and seemed to go well. (All good, I found another expat's blog and I learned they speak English, I can handle this.)
Then we waited. And waited. And waited. (It seemed like forever but each step was only about a week.)
Then he got an email that led us to believe he was still being considered.
Then he got the job offer. (All the while I was using my creative prayer journal and trying to "pray about it more than I talked about it.")
Then he accepted the job. And we told our friends who went, "WHAT?!?!"
Long story short, thanks to God (and that's the only explanation I have for why everything worked out so well), we sold our house, sold most of our belongings (who needs furniture?), packed up the uhaul and headed East.
So now I'm living with my husband's parents in their basement with our two kids while he does training three hours away until we pack our bags and get on a very long plane ride.

Let me introduce myself.

I'm not even sure where to start so I guess I'll start at the beginning. We are moving to Singapore. We are moving our two little children (ages 5 and almost a year) to Singapore. We are leaving the comforts of our southern Oregon home of 9 years to move to Singapore. It's a little surreal if I'm being honest. Yes, surreal is the best word for it. So here's a little about us . . .
Cherry - That's me! I'm a Stay at Home Mom currently but I used to be a Marketing Coordinator for an engineering firm and a resort/real estate community. I have a Bachelor's degree and I tend to be a little on the nerdy side, or is it geeky, I'm not sure. I find puns and impressions to be the funniest. I also have my private pilot's license (mostly to prove to my hubby I could do it, ha!) I'm very excited to see the world and experience new food, culture and ways of living. I'm most looking forward to running all over the island.
Ross - That's the hubby. He's the reason we are moving (that warrants an entire blog post of it's own.) He has a Master's degree, used to be in the Air Force, has his private pilot's license (yes, he got it first), has tried almost every sport imaginable and loves to "Keep Calm and Chive On". We met in 2002 in Alaska and were married two years later (happy 10th anniversary to us!) He is my total opposite and that has made my life all the better. As the saying goes, "we may not be perfect but we are perfect for each other."
Cade - That's the five year old. He's totally a mini of his daddy: tall, active and always going at full speed. Fun fact, he was born on 3/6/9 and the nerd in me loves that! He admits to being nervous about the move but excited for the water parks. Guess it's time for him to learn to swim.
Elise - That's the almost-one year old. She's more of a mini-me, which is a bit harder to describe. She's just a mama's girl and if food's involved, she's happy. Fun fact about Elise, her birthday is 6/3. She is an opposite of her brother in more ways than just the numbers. It's so crazy to think she'll be turning a year old in Singapore.
This blog is about what happens when a boy from the mid-west and a girl from the west coast become expats in Asia. Did I mention how surreal this is? Here we go!

Welcome!

Every new blog needs a welcome message so voila, here it is.

Welcome!!