...loves, dreams & dares...

Wow so much has happened since my last post! We dared to sell our house based largely on what we felt God leading us to do. We have started dreaming about what our next house will look like (while we are living with my wonderfully accommodating in-laws), spreadsheet, pinterest board, lots of rambling walks and drives looking at houses and neighbourhoods and everything! I am in love with being creative (can't quite bring myself to use the word crafty) and made a few different Christmas gifts, with varying success - I will blog about a few of them that I'm going to do again.

 (from we.laugh-at-gilded.butterflies)

I am dreaming about my year and my passions and have made the decision to take time off from running my fortnightly dance group the Freedom Movement so that I can invest in dance classes for myself and in really seeking God and dreaming with Him about the vision for the Freedom Movement and what to do next! As a part of this, I am determined to get fit and have started personal training sessions - I love it!! I have had 5 sessions out of a total of 9 I got in a deal, and am sad to think they'll end - paying regular prices is sadly not a budget option. But I will probably switch to boot camp, and will also be starting dance classes at the end of Feb. I am DETERMINED to work on excellence in dance, to truly hone my body and increase my ability to dance in whatever way God wants me to, and being fit is a huge part of that.

Matty & I are also joining our church in a 'Daniel' fast of 21 days in Feb - we choose what to fast, so have decided not to buy take away food during that time (including Indian, Thai, pizza - so many of the foods we really really love) and also not to watch television, which is our main downtime activity together. This is going to really stretch us! It means we will be cooking a lot more for ourselves (we usually get takeaway 1-2 times per week, and often eat the leftovers for other meals), so I realise we need to be a lot more creative so we are interested in and excited by what we are eating at home, so takeaway won't be a temptation.  Time to get out the cookbooks! I'm quite excited about the idea of planning meals, and actually using the many cookbooks I own. It's good motivation to do something I have always wanted to do. It also means healthier diet and saving money, as well as helping focus us.

Not watching TV means will we have a lot more spare time at nights, so I am also looking forward to that! On a few occasions over our almost 3 years of marriage we have tried to start a habit of reading the Bible together, or praying together, and whilst its been good, it has been far from consistent. As something we can do together while still just chilling on the couch, this is a great opportunity to grow spiritually together. We have also started going on long walks together, as Matt wants to get fit and shed a few kgs almost as much as I do, and we find we have awesome couple time and chats while we are walking. I envisage lots more priority on walks once we don't have the TV distraction!

We will be fasting for breakthrough - in our church, for finances and revelation about direction, for unleasing of the promises God has for DaySpring. For us, it will be for our new home, the physical, financial and spiritual aspects of that, for our families. For me, it will also be about dance - about clearer understanding of what God has planned, of being able to identify and be passionate about my dream and vision and purpose in dance, and about seeing that come to fruition.

This one post has many other posts to come out of it. I am amazingly enthusiastic to see 2012 take shape!