Live Uncaged, Work Uncaged

The Shocking Thing I Learned about Last Year

7 Comments 27 January 2012

My business coach, Denise Martin (who is amazing), asked me to do an exercise a few weeks ago. I hemmed and hawed a bit, then finally got to it. And I was shocked at the repercussions.

You may know me as a driven person. I certainly know myself this way. I don’t like that, and I’m hoping to change more and more, but there it is. So the thing she asked me to do was to recount my year and look at the things I tried to initiate as well as the surprised God brought about.

After I read both lists, I was both shocked and humbled. Here they are: Continue Reading

Archive

Take the leap!

9 Comments 26 January 2012

This quote comes from my upcoming release, Beautiful Battle.

Live Uncaged

Yes even web geeks live uncaged!

2 Comments 25 January 2012

I’m thrilled to have my friend Thomas Umstattd with us today, chatting about how he lives uncaged. Thomas does awesome websites and teaches about social media around the country. He owns Author Media, the folks behind this site and my new site Write Uncaged.

We’ve known each other a few years now, and I’m thankful to call him friend. Here’s Thomas!

What would it look like for you to live uncaged in 2012?

Living uncaged for me would be living a life without fear. Making decision based on what the right thing to do was not the safe thing.  It is all the little fears that bind together to form a the wires of our cages. Any one of them is no big deal but together they cripple us.   Continue Reading

Live Uncaged

Why Katy Gedney Totally Inspired me!

14 Comments 24 January 2012

When I lived in Washington state (where I grew up), my hubby and I had a really unique set of friends from church. The wives were dear friends, and we got together quite a bit, celebrating birthdays and just life in general. As I look back now, I see how sweet that was.

Here’s a picture of two of our gatherings.

The gal on the far left with the gorgeous blond hair is Katy Gedney. I thought of her this morning while I read through a decorating magazine (my private addiction…I need a 12 step program, folks.) I remembered her home in Seattle when I first visited it. She and her husband Eric had purchased a fixer upper, an old bungalow (the style I still consider the most beautiful architecture in the world). They’d stripped, painted, and created an amazing home from a blank, old palate.

But what inspired me about her home was the creativity seeping out of every nook and cranny. She had her own paintings displayed. They’d chosen unconventional colors for cabinets. Even her cooking was wildly creative and infused with unique abandon. I loved visiting her there. And every time I left, I felt a sense of deep inspiration to make my home reflect our family’s creativity.

That moment seeing her home sticks to my ribs today. I want to live that way, folks. Do you? To be uncaged even in your home? Who says we all have to have brown or white cabinets? Who dictates we must put art in a certain place? Why can’t we be fully ourselves in our homes, breaking convention simply because we want to.

I wish everyone knew my dear friend Katy and saw the world from her artistic perspective. She is beautiful inside and out. My only regret is that we no longer live close to each other. I can’t drop by for tea and scones. But we still keep in touch. And I wanted to write this post as a tribute to her creativity and beauty. I love you, Katy.

Q4u: Who inspires you to think differently? To be creative? Why?

Live Uncaged

An outrageous gift

11 Comments 23 January 2012

God is mindful.

Let that sink way deep into your marrow today. Choose to believe it. He sees. He knows. He is available.

I learned that last week when I received a surprise package in the mail. It was from one of my readers, and it contained a beautifully sewn purse, along with life-giving words. Continue Reading