30 by 30: Month 11

Good grief, we are down to just one more month to go!  I'll have to admit to you that I have accepted the fact that there is no way I will accomplish everything on my list by the time that November 1 rolls around.  Just not going to happen.  But, I'm still plugging along trying to cross off as many as I can!  Here is what I was able to check off in September.

7.  Read 24 more books  (13/24 completed).

In September I read a book recommended to me by SoulMate Friend called A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans.  It was really good--the writer is hilarious and it was fun to follow her journey to try different Old Testament commands and see how that impacted her faith.  Here were some of my favorite quotes.

Peace and joy belong not to the woman who finds the right vocation, but to the woman who finds God in any vocation, who looks for the divine around every corner.

Martha wasn't the first and she certainly won't be the last to dismiss someone else's encounter with God because it didn't fit the mold.

Be careful of challenging another woman's choices, for you never know when she may be sitting at the feet of God.

Knowing that God both inhabits and transcends our daily vocations, no matter how glorious or mundane, should be enough to unite all women of faith and end that nasty cycle of judgment we get caught in these days.

One need not be a saint, or even a mother, to become a bearer of God.  One needs only to obey.  The divine resides in all of us, but it is our choice to magnify it or diminish it, to ignore it or to surrender to its lead.

Why did the Jews have children after the Holocaust?  Why do women keep trying after multiple miscarriages?  It's our way of shaking our fists at the future and saying, you know what?--we will be hopeful; things will get better; you can't scare us after all.  Having children is, ultimately, an act of faith.

Faith isn't about having everything figured out ahead of time.  Faith is about following the quiet voice of God without having everything figured out ahead of time.

8.  Send little gifts to my friends once a month (11/12 completed).

This month I was super excited to send a college football themed package to three of my favorite kiddos.  I adore these little boys and think that everyone looks better in orange.  Super Mom did an adorable blog showing off the goodies, so to see that, click here.


16.  Visit 2 new states (2/2 completed).

After checking off Washington back in May, I was worried about getting another state crossed off the list.  But when Uncle Black Belt and I were on our way to Notre Dame, we made a quick detour to Michigan so that we could take a picture by the sign and knock this item out.  Contrary to popular belief (caused by Uncle Black Belt's post on Facebook that said, "How did we end up in Michigan??"), this was an intentional detour.

30. Pray a voiceless prayer.

This list item was inspired by my friend Dr. Kyra who told me a story of a time when she was desperate for an answer, so she went to a church and left an item on the alter.  It was her voiceless prayer.  Well I just loved that idea and knew I had to incorporate it into my project.  I thought I knew what I was going to do back in November when I put this item on the list, but a lot of things can change in a year.  Including the item I decided to use as my voiceless prayer.  So a couple of weeks ago, I got up early one chilly fall morning and made my way to the Grotto on the University of Notre Dame campus.  It was dark and cool and basically empty.  And there, amongst the candles beneath the Basilica spires and the golden dome, I left my voiceless prayer.  And then a bit later got a voiceless answer.  I'm not sure whether it is something I am going to blog about it or not...I'm still debating whether it's something I want to share, but suffice it for now to say that it was a beautiful, perfect moment for me.