“The Holiness Project” continues here at This Odd House—with both successes and “opportunities for continued growth” to report thus far. How are you doing?
I must admit that, once Peter abandoned the Whole30 mid-month, my motivation waned. I didn’t jump ship completely, but I did bring cream unabashedly back to my coffee, and one day I even cracked open a bag of Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips that had been taunting me from the cupboard for weeks. I am so weak. I’m not blaming Peter…per se…just highlighting how helpful it can be to have that support.
We will continue to eat in a largely Whole30 fashion here. It continues to be the baseline that works best for us. And I continue to find more valuable resources. One recent discovery was Physical Kitchness and her Whole30 meal plans. Wow! So helpful. I’m excited to try more PK recipes.
Last night I made the PK Whole30 Tuscan Chicken Spaghetti Squash. I used a rotisserie chicken from Costco and cooked the spaghetti squash in the microwave like PK suggests, so it was super easy and fairly quick. (It does have to bake for 30 minutes at the end.) But…yum!! The whole family loved it! Wonderful comfort food on a cold night. This is definitely going into regular rotation.
Our January focus on prayer also met with both victory and defeat.
We loved joining our church in their 31-Day Prayer Challenge. Having that external guide for our prayer routine moved us out of our ruts and motivated us to pray together as a family more consistently. Our main struggle was and continues to be our crazy schedules. We added a new family prayer time right after dinner. However, there were several evenings when supper was rushed because someone was running out the door.
There were the goofy times, like Amelia’s repeated prayer: “Dear God, please help me to stop making rude noises…like this. (Insert raspberry noise made on her arm.) Because that is just NOT appropriate! (Insert peals of laughter from Daryl.)”
There were the precious times, like Daryl’s sincere question one night: “Mom, is it possible to be too dependent on God? Because I just feel like I need to pray about everything.”
There were the powerful times, like my long early morning commutes in the car, when I would turn off the radio and the iPod and offer up desperate, faltering prayers—for my family, my neighbors, and our nation. Lord, help us!
I didn’t get a chance to share with you in January about our family prayer journals (which I’m reviving) or our prayer request notebook. I’ll revisit those things another time.
Because certainly we must press on in prayer as well.
And because…
Now we face into February—which here in Chicago means continued icy cold winds and gray skies and quite possibly snow.
Let’s face it. February can be just plain tough.
Soooo…our February goals involve re-establishing a more consistent exercise routine (loving God with our strength) and memorizing more Scripture (loving God with our mind).
I look forward to sharing with you what we try and what we learn!
We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve.
It might involve ninjas. Of all sizes.
Don’t forget to subscribe to This Odd House, so you don’t miss out. Big news is on the horizon.
Are you doing your own “Holiness Project”?
How are you growing toward the goal of loving God—heart, soul, mind, and strength?
