What inspires you?

 Lots of things inspire me. The Bible inspires me to draw closer to God. God inspires me to enter into a relationship with Him. Neat and orderly spaces inspire me to rest and relax. Messy and disorganized spaces inspire me to frustration and anxiety. People inspire me to be better. Music inspires me to worship and promotes a better attitude. Love inspires me to love more. 

This weekend I had the opportunity to be home alone for about 31 hours and it was AMAZING! I was
able to reorganize the pantry, reorganize our coffee mug/coffee area, I was able to clean off the kitchen counter, I was able to straighten the area where I keep my cookbooks and meal planning calendar, I was able to catch up on all my cleaning, clean the weeds out of the front flower beds, blow off the back yard (rocks that were loose that Junior kept trying to eat), and weed eat the backyard, blowing it off again, able to catch up on blog posts and start about 6ish more that I know I want to write, catch up on my reviews that needed to be done, and finished two books. I had forgotten how many things I could get down with uninterrupted time, to say it felt great would be a huge understatement! I was/am so very thankful for all that I was able to catch up on because I had been in a place of serious overwhelmment (sure, that's a word!). So, since I had gotten caught up on so many things, I was able to spend a little time on Facebook in one of my favorite groups: Avid Christian Fiction Readers. I love this group for so many reasons, but mostly because I get a lot of great suggestions for books to read. I am constantly learning about new authors. Anyway, last night someone had asked about what people did with their books they have bought that they have not read, do they set some kind of goal to get those read, like maybe you have to read a couple of the books you have before you can read anymore, or you have to read so many before you can borrow some from the library. The point is how you take care of all the books that you have not read. 

Anyway, one lady mentioned that there was a lady who started "The unread shelf project." Well, I was curious, so I went on the hunt to see what she had to say. First, I think it is a neat idea, but I was like, I have so much to read, I am not going to do this challenge. I hunted around on her site, and the more I looked at it, and the more I read some of her blog posts, I thought "this is not a bad idea!" You all, this lady INSPIRED me in several ways. First, she inspired me to figure out what books I had not read, get them written out (I modified that and put it on my Goodreads shelf), going a step further, and dividing them from fiction and nonfiction. As I was gathering books this morning I started noticing some that I have that I am NEVER going to read and have set them aside to give away. So, I only have 25 nonfiction/fiction books in my house (that are mine, not the kids), that I have not read....scratch that, I just thought of another shelf I missed 😂😂, but I have started the process. Now, I have over 1200 books on my Kindle, between fiction and nonfiction, so I don't think I am going to go back and organize that now but at some point. What I am going to do to get that more under control, is whenever I get another Kindle book I will immediately mark it on my Goodreads account so I know what I have and where it is located! Please understand, I have NOT bought all these books, some, yes, but most I have gotten for FREE from various groups, like the Avid Christian Fiction Group I mentioned earlier. Second, sometimes I do get myself overwhelmed with how many books I *need* to read, and she had great advice for that too, you can click here if interested. This lady (Whitney Conrad)  that I have never met inspired me to take control and organize another area of my life...which I love...again, I love things organized!!! And, I don't know about you, but when I feel inspired, I am excited and able to do more!

We were made to be in a community with others. While I do not know this lady, or a lot of the ones that I am in groups with, or even some of the ones I follow on Instagram, I follow people who INSPIRE me, mostly other Christian ladies, because I want to follow others who post good and encouraging stuff. Garbage in, garbage out, good stuff in, good stuff out...So, I ask again, what inspires you? Or who inspires you? If you don't have a good answer to this question then I challenge you to figure it out! We need more people to inspire us to grow and be better than we are!! Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this!! 😊

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7