I Plan But God Leads

I just celebrated another birthday, so I thought I would share a little about this past year and dream about the future. As always, I hope my ramblings might spur someone on, allow another to learn from my mistakes, or just give a laugh to someone who needs one. (Yes – I think I’m funny.)

Highlights from My 52nd Year

So, I just did the math for the umpteenth time this week, and these three significant things happened in my 52nd year: 1) I had weight loss surgery, 2) I became a mother-in-law, and 3) I am now self-employed.

Weight Loss Surgery

I contemplated weight loss surgery for almost a year before I actually did it. I went to Weight Wise Bariatric for the first time in May 2018. I lost 20 pounds before the surgery that was performed in October 2018. Post surgery I have lost an additional 50 pounds. This is the first time I have “publicly” posted before and after pics. Yikes! But I’m going to do it because I know how encouraging it was for me to see others’ progress in pictures.

I will blog more about this journey in the future. For the purpose of this post to inspire, educate and entertain:

If you are curious about bariatric surgery, I would love to talk about it with you. Just reach out to me.
Weight Wise is a top-notch program. I highly recommend them.
For two weeks after surgery, you are required to eat soft foods while your stomach heals. Fortunately for me, I was not hungry which made this bearable. My first “meal” was 1/2 of a string cheese. Yep – that’s all I could eat. I’m not lying. I was FULL after 1/2 a stick. But don’t worry; I can eat a whole stick now and still have room for some more food.

Becoming a Mother-In-Law

Of all the things that happened in my 52nd year, becoming a mother-in-law makes me feel “old”. I don’t really know why but it seems like it ages me more than having full grown children. It was love at first date for my daughter and her Mr. Right followed by a short courtship and an even shorter engagement. These two are driven and decisive so they just moved things right along – which didn’t give this momma much time to wrap her brain around my new identity as a mother-in-law. It’s a good thing that I adore my SIL. He’s made it very easy for me to embrace this new role and love him like the son I never had.

Embracing Self-Employment

Finally, I made the leap from having a side hustle to full on self-employed. Here’s a post about how I made that decision. No doubt I “work” more hours now but it doesn’t feel like work. It really is true that if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. I’m still working to get a routine that works for me. I struggle to keep focused on a task because I have a million ideas floating around in my head. (I took this free Enneagram test this weekend, and I’m a type 7: An Enthusiast.) According to what I’ve read, having ideas floating around is simply part of who I am, so I’m going to have to learn to manage and deal with this reality.

Plans for My 53rd Year

This is great segue into the second part of this post: plans for my 53rd year. First of all, it is my hope that I corral the floating ideas/plans in my head. Now that I know this is part of my personality, I am going to set up a plan to make it work FOR me. I’m not sure what that looks like yet, but when I do, don’t worry; I will, as usual, overshare.

My nest will be empty in just a few more days. You can read my ramblings about that here. I will start traveling and working with my DH. So, basically, my goal this year is to not murder him. Ha! Just joking…I think. I also have to figure out how to be away from home for 2 weeks at a time and still keep my business running.

Finally, in my 53rd year, I want to become an avid yogi. I’ve already started incorporating this practice into my life. I am a huge fan of Yoga with Adriene. She has countless videos on YouTube; I love her laid back style; and she makes it fun and easy for ANYONE to do yoga. I have no desire to do handstand poses or anything crazy like that; I simply want to be kind to myself, and this seems like a practice that does just that.

I Will Plan, But God Will Lead

I look forward to posting about my 53rd year. According to Proverbs 16:9, It may or may not look like I imagine it to be. In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.

However, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t plan or consider what I want. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 14:8. The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways.

Putting these two powerhouse verses together in plain English: I will plan, but God will lead.