Your sparkle is worth chasing.

When the wind is nuts and the snow is gone and the whole world looks like it's covered in muck,
I sure am glad to start the day with hot coffee on a 100-year old yellow couch.
And it's only more cheerful when I can share it with friends like you!

We're at the end of January. That means the New Year's resolutions are way-forgotten.
Who is really at the gym anymore?
I don't even make that resolution anymore.
I know myself too well.

What I think is worth chasing down all year is something way more elusive.
This year I'm relentlessly pursuing SPARKLE. 

Will you join me?

Sparkle is definitely girly-sounding.  I concede.  But I'm a girl.
I don't know what guys would call it that sounds more manly.
If you (or my husband) come up with some suggestions,
I'll be happy to add the man-version.

Sparkle is when you're really alive.
The stuff that makes your heart smile.

There's a place where your passions touch God's plans.
That's your sparkle.

God didn't make us to live a dull version of life.
He's crazy-fun!
God invented sparkle.

Being a grown-up can really wreck some sparkle.
We get really a little too serious.
We forget how to be playful.
(I'm among the worst offenders here, if we're keeping it real.)

Confession:
My husband and I get sort of uptight sometimes.  True story. 
(If you know us, you're laughing already...)
We're working on it, don't worry.

A few years ago we decided to give being laid back a whirl. 
We devised a very wild plan.  It was going to push the limits.  
We couldn't believe we were really saying this...

We had remodeled the den for the millionth time (our naughty dogs are to blame - another story),
and in our efforts to hang loose, we decided to really take things to the edge:

"Hon, let's allow the kids to take clear liquids into the den."

I don't know if the world is ready for the likes of us.
If all parents were that careless - allowing clear liquids to be carried willy-nilly through living rooms - we might see the very decline of civilization.

(You'll be concerned to know that we've grown so wild and crazy as to occasionally allow dark sodas that are not in spill-proof cups and even pizza with sauce to make it's way to the den in the hands of children.  It's scandalous, really.)

Hopefully Maybe you're way less uptight than me.
Maybe you sparkle all over the place effortlessly.
If that's you, can you email me the secret?  Thanks.
But I bet there's somewhere in your life you'd like to feel like you're living more daringly, more creatively, more vibrantly.

This year, I want to chat about the little and the big stuff that makes us feel alive.  
I want us to remember that the things we love are valuable.

When our hearts light up, that is a clue about who we are made to be.

We're each so different.  We have different challenges and different passions, different gifts and talents. But we have something important in common:
God loves us and made us.  Can you even really wrap your head around that we are each made in HIS image?  It's true.  He tells us that.
 
He is this amazing Creator who personally planted a desire to be passionate and joyful and creative in YOU and in ME. 

He is an Artist.  You are a work of art.  
You are beautiful.
And you are made to live...
with sparkle.