(written yesterday, posted today)

My morning went off without a hitch… now this is something NEW to celebrate! The afternoon however, almost snuck by without incident….more on this in a minute…

I hope you aren’t too disappointed but I am following suit with all the rest of the writers and the loud, opinionated, creative folks in the world by covering the subject of; what to do and what not to do in the coming NEW year! Now don’t lose hope and stop reading. You will be relieved to know that I will not be a total conformist and brow beat you over New Year resolutions regarding health and fitness. I will say though that this article will be a bit lengthier than what I normally write.

Here’s the rest of the story; Thank God I decided to sit’n’sip while I prayed this morning, and not take my steaming cup of goodness straight to the desk for the pre-payday look into our online checking. “Thank you Jesus for calling me in to have a conversation with you, filling me with your Holy Spirit…before things got out of hand. Especially, when you knew Lord that my steaming cup was filled with hot water, fresh squeezed lemon and a hint of raw honey and would not sustain me through my stress” (oh sorry, just one health tip for the New Year).

Around 2 p.m. after prayer, I did my old lady don’t sweat version of exercise (shhh health tip #2) and a few, very few household duties. I then took a cup of the real stuff and made my way to my desk. I logged into my online checking account. Keep in mind we recently switched from ME writing checks for everything and keeping a check registry, to auto drafts and Hubs keeping track of everything. A few months ago we experienced a marriage threatening, checking account disaster with this new system and my emotional response was less than lady like. Today, when I looked and saw something that I had not predicted nor participated in …my heart rate went mach speed. But… something NEW happened! I was stirred but not shaken. When I texted Hubs I didn’t tantrum text him with accusations and cursing, no blaming, but just stated what I was looking at online. He then responded with something even more NEW….an apology for his part in it all. I then calmly called the bank and they actually fixed their error!! This is a total WIN for the journey of not letting my situation or people around me shake me!! Maybe Hubs will also join me on this journey in 2016!? Now, I just need to work on my control issue.

I just sipped the last of the cream laden coffee from my cup and it is cold… but….all is well in my world until the next normal, life challenge happens.. and …it….will happen.

Is all well in your world? Are you a control freak, or a tantrum thrower? Do you have struggles in your marriage, and or finances? Do you need to learn to react with tact!? Do you comfort yourself with food or shopping?

If you find yourself relating to any of these or more please ……join me on the patio! Start NEW on this journey of… allowing the Holy Spirit to fill you so, your emotions will be stirred but not shaken!

P.S. can you give this blog post a title? Write your title idea in the comment section below, or email it to me at (juliemahan63@yahoo.com) or comment on Facebook under the blog post. If your title is chosen you will be the winner of a $20 visa gift card! notice I didn’t say you’d receive a check for $20…hee hee!….sorry Hubs..xoxoxo.