31 Days of Saying, "Yes!"...Day 3

31 Days Challenge

Saying, "Yes!" to a Starbucks coffee with my daughter.

Saying, "No" to extra get-ready time before church.

It's about time that I say "Yes" to Carrie.

She asks me almost every week if she can buy me a Starbucks on the way to church, but every week, I tell her 

"No. There's just not enough time."

This week, because of this challenge, I thought twice.

And here's what's funny.

I thought that I really needed those extra 

"coffee minutes" to get ready for church.

But I don't.

I realized something that I think I already knew.  

I'm a procrastinator.  

Big time.

Another coin with two sides...I think that I don't have time for something, but in reality, I am deciding to give that time to something else.

It's all about choices.

Why is this just now making sense to me?

Here's my pretty girl with her Pumpkin Spice Latte. 

And here's a picture of my pretty Salted Caramel Mocha.

Yummy!

And this has nothing to do with saying "Yes" except that I stopped in the middle of the road to take this picture on the way home from dropping Carrie off at church.

I'm a sucker for farm scenery.

Breathtaking...

Saying, "Yes!" to driving the speed limit and paying attention to my gas light.

Saying, "No" to getting pulled over for speeding and running out of gas.

Not only did I have time to stop for a coffee with my daughter, but I also had time to drive the speed limit and stop for gas!  

AND...I even had time to clean up 

a couple of card tables that I had forgotten that I had promised to take to church later that morning.

Saying, "Yes!" to eating out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Saying, "No" to our budget.

What's a budget?

I don't know.

Normally, we don't go out to eat after church because of the expense, but today we all decided that it would be a good thing.

And it was.

Matthew practiced his snapping while we waited for our drinks.

 Josh caught us up on what he learned in Sunday School.

And on what hand Luke Skywalker lost in the fifth Star Wars.

We all enjoyed our time out together.

I even got to enjoy watching the littles share their dinners.

I have been realizing these past few days just how many "Yes" and "No" moments there are in a day.

Hundreds!

Enjoying more intentional living,

31 Days of Saying, "Yes!"...Day 2

31 Days Challenge

Saying, "Yes!" to an afternoon of go-karts at the park.

Saying, "No" to an afternoon of yard work...namely picking up sticks.

The go-kart races come our town's park every October, but we have never, ever gone to watch them.

You can even hear the engines roaring all the way across town.

On Saturday afternoon, when Paul got home from work, we all packed up into the truck and headed for the park.  One of the really neat blessings from that day was seeing Alex.

Alex was just a little boy when we moved into our home.  He lived right next door and was just about Matthew's age.  

Life stuff happened, and he moved away.  

He is now 19 years old! 

It has been years since we have seen him.

Had we said yes to stick-picking-upping, we would not have seen Alex.

And we would not have enjoyed a really fun day at the park!

Matthew and Josh enjoyed playing, "Kick the Can."

Isn't it fun to watch little guys make their own fun?

Because of the sun's brilliance, 

the shadows were absolutely sharp.

So defined.

Another example of a little guy making his own fun...

The kids decided that they want to drive go-karts.

I decided that I want to be the flag guy.

What a cool position!

Notice the glove below.

Something else that I finally said "Yes" to on this day was getting out the hats and gloves box from the garage so that Josh could find my black gloves.

Can you guess why?

He wanted to be Luke Skywalker.

He realized later that Luke actually lost his right hand...so he has retired the left-hand glove 

to his Lucky Drawer and is now wearing the right-hand glove.

My man.

Because he is my man and I know him so well, 

I know that he is secretly wishing he were racing 

one of those go-karts around the track too.

And here's my swirling, whirling, Joshua Skywalker playing "chase" with his shadow.

I am so happy that we didn't spend the afternoon 

picking up sticks.

Enjoying the "yeses" of life,

31 Days Challenge

31 Days of Saying, "Yes!"...Day 3
31 Days of Saying, "Yes!"...Day 2

I am working on linking up to the 31 Days Series
over at The Nesting Place.
I'm having a little trouble with the linky.
Hopefully there will be more later...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
O.K.
I think I've figured out the Linky.

Last night I was catching up with Flower Patch Farmgirl and read that she is participating in a 31 Days Challenge.  I followed her 31 Days link and decided that I wanted to give it a try.

The first challenge was to find something that I would be able to blog about every single day for 31 days. I wanted to be creative, and I wanted it to have meaning.  I also wanted for it to be something different...something that would stretch my imagination.

I threw around several different ideas about simplicity, traditions, and organization...but none of those seemed like something that I would stick with.

After spending some time thinking and praying, the idea of "Saying Yes" presented itself to me.

At first, it seemed so simple and one-dimensional.
I say "No" so much easier than I say "Yes."

"Mom, can I go outside?"
"No."

"Mommy, will you play light sabers with me?"
"Not right now."

"Mom, will you get the glove box out?"
"Maybe later."

I thought of all the ways that I say "No"
to the people around me.
How I put-off until tomorrow...how I procrastinate.

Maybe I say "No" too often and too easily.

I know that there are times when the only answer is "No."

"Mom, can eat some Peanut M&M's right before supper?"
"No."

"Mom, can I skip this assignment on adverbs?"
"No."

"Mom, can I go straight to bed without brushing my teeth?"
"No."

But that's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about all those times that I say "No" without really thinking.
All the times that I say "No" because it is easier than saying yes.

Here's what's funny.
As I was thinking about this, I began to realize that there are two sides to the coin.

To every "Yes," there is a "No."
To every "No," there is a "Yes."

So...for the next 31 Days, I am going to be more intentional in saying "Yes."
Especially to the ones I love.
I am also going to be very aware that every time I say "Yes" to something, I am also saying "No" to something else.
And I'm going to try to remember the words of Christ in Matthew 5:37...

Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

So...here's to 31 Days of Saying, "Yes!"

Enjoying the discipline of blogging everyday,