{"id":2817,"date":"2014-10-01T11:11:38","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T11:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oshetablogs.wordpress.com\/?p=2817"},"modified":"2014-10-01T11:11:38","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T11:11:38","slug":"open-when-you-need-some-encouragement-this-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/shalominthecity\/2014\/10\/open-when-you-need-some-encouragement-this-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Open When You Need Some Encouragement This Month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Hello, October! Can y\u2019all believe it? October.\u00a0 Fall.\u00a0 Pumpkin Spice Lattes.\u00a0 Halloween costumes.\u00a0 Jacking the kids of their Halloween Candy.\u00a0 Apple Picking and Pumpkin patches and\u2026.<\/p>\n

31 Days of Writing!<\/p>\n

\"31daysbig\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yep, it\u2019s that time again to write for 31 days on a one\u00a0topic.\u00a0 Last year I found my tribe<\/a>\u2013\u00a0you my lovely readers. You dear ones who comment and email and encourage me IRL (in real life). You\u2019ve made blogging too much fun.<\/p>\n

So this month, I wanna love on y\u2019all something fierce.\u00a0 I am planning 31 days of \u201cOpen When\u201d letters.<\/p>\n

For those of you not on Pinterest, about a year ago I was seeing this little craft idea pop up on Pinterest.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>
From Pinterest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a thoughtful and inexpensive gift, you could sit down and write seven, fourteen, thirty-one, however many strikes your fancy, of love letters to someone.\u00a0 Most were romantic, \u201copen when you want to remember how we first met\u201d, but some were fairly sweet for friends.\u00a0 The idea stuck with me. I used to do something very similar for friends leaving on a mission trip.\u00a0 I\u2019d find out how many days they\u2019d be away, prayerfully consider some scriptures that would encourage them, and then send them \u201copen when\u201d letters.\u00a0 That way they have a daily dose of encouragement every day they\u2019re away.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpen when\u201d letters are right up my alley.\u00a0 I love encouraging my friends.\u00a0 In fact, I\u2019m that friend that remembers birthdays, alerts everyone on Facebook when Papyrus is having their semi-annual card sale, and send little love bombs in the mail.\u00a0 So my friends,\u00a0 this month,\u00a0 I want to send daily love bombs to you, thirty-one, in fact.<\/p>\n

At first, I was going to research 31 scriptures and encourage you that way, but that\u2019s not me.\u00a0 Yes I love Scripture and I\u2019m sure a few of these days will be based on some meaningful one to me, but I\u2019ve learned the only way writing for 31 days will work is if I\u2019m super authentic to my personality.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a little bit quirky\u2013 so they\u2019ll be some goofy days.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a little bit sappy\u2013 so they\u2019ll be some tear jerking videos.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a little bit shalomy\u2013 so they\u2019ll be some talk of justice and our power to set the world back to rights.<\/p>\n

But all the posts will have that \u201cohmygoodness I just want to tell you before I forget\u201d quality to them.\u00a0 \u201cTop of the Head, Top of the Heart\u201d, is my mantra for this series.\u00a0 Some \u201cOpen Whens\u201d I\u2019ve thought a lot about and prepped because it\u2019ll make it more fun for you to see pics along with my thoughts, some will be simply how I\u2019m feeling at 5am when I sit down to write\u2026.I mean after the grogginess wear off and the coffee kicks in.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This series has three simple goals:<\/p>\n

1: to make you smile<\/p>\n

2: to make you feel loved<\/p>\n

3: to make you wanna love on someone else.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it.\u00a0 That\u2019s all.\u00a0 Because I love y\u2019all so much.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re beautiful and such a gift to me, I hope these next 31 days will be a gift to you.<\/p>\n

Here are some \u201cOpen Whens\u201d you can expect this month(in no particular order):<\/p>\n

Open when you need a new name.<\/p>\n

Open when you need to make a statement.<\/p>\n

Open when you don\u2019t feel so snazzy.<\/p>\n

Open when you\u2019ve got too many T-shirts<\/p>\n

Open when your kids turn on the TV like all the time!<\/p>\n

Open when you\u2019re thinking about Advent and Christmas.<\/p>\n

Open when you feel like you\u2019ve let your children down.<\/p>\n

Open when you wonder if anybody cares.<\/p>\n

Open when you\u2019re lonely.<\/p>\n

Open when you need to laugh.<\/p>\n

Open when you\u2019re feeling brave.<\/p>\n

Open when the world feels like a scary place.<\/p>\n

Open when you need to be inspired by some amazing people.<\/p>\n

Open when you\u2019re exhausted.<\/p>\n

Open when you\u2019ve lost your temper over something trivial<\/p>\n

Open when (another) friend gets a new job\/gets engaged\/has a baby\/gets whatever you want most, and you\u2026don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Open when you want to celebrate.<\/p>\n

Open when you have 30 seconds and need a pick-me-up<\/p>\n

Open when it\u2019s time to write but you don\u2019t know what to write<\/p>\n

Open when your dream\u2019s deferred.<\/p>\n

Open when you don\u2019t know what\u2019s next<\/p>\n

Open when you need to remember.<\/p>\n

Open when you need to pray.<\/p>\n

Open when you need to slow down.<\/p>\n

Open when you get ahead of yourself.<\/p>\n

Open when you get a little too proud of yourself.<\/p>\n

Open when you feel guilty.<\/p>\n

Open after completing a random act of kindness.<\/p>\n

Open when you are not your ideal weight.<\/p>\n

Open simple because you want to.<\/p>\n

Special thanks for my Story sisters for suggesting some \u201copen whens\u201d.\u00a0 But now it\u2019s your turn, Lovelies, suggest an open when that would be meaningful to you to have me speak encouragement into.\u00a0 It could be a simple as \u201cOpen When I need a new way to cook chicken to as complex\u201d as \u201cOpen when God feels scary\u201d (which I\u2019m probably going to use this month too, so sorry, those are taken \ud83d\ude09 )<\/p>\n

But seriously, let me use these month to encourage you. I love it.\u00a0 You\u2019ll love it.\u00a0 We\u2019ll just be brimming over with love to spill into the world and that- THAT\u2013 is shalom.<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t wait to hear from you,<\/p>\n

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Hello, October! Can y\u2019all believe it? October.\u00a0 Fall.\u00a0 Pumpkin Spice Lattes.\u00a0 Halloween costumes.\u00a0 Jacking the kids of their Halloween Candy.\u00a0 Apple Picking and Pumpkin patches and\u2026. 31 Days of Writing! Yep, it\u2019s that time again to write for 31 days on a one\u00a0topic.\u00a0 Last year I found my tribe\u2013\u00a0you my lovely readers. You dear ones […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3037,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,398],"tags":[583,584,409,126,585],"class_list":["post-2817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-faith","tag-31days","tag-blog","tag-encouragement","tag-friends","tag-open-when"],"yoast_head":"\nOpen When You Need Some Encouragement This Month<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hello, October! Can y'all believe it? 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