What Fitz and the Tantrums and My Friend, Beth, Can Teach Us About Achieving Our Goals

My dad wanted to know if I've heard of Fitz and the Tantrums, a band he recently saw interviewed. My dad is like that, hip with his taste in music.

I nodded and tossed out a few lyrics to MoneyGrabber. I'm hip like that, so hip I sometimes know the lyrics to popular songs.

I like Fitz and the Tantrums, but it's not just their music that inspires me, it's their fierce determination. In one short article from the Baltimore Sun, we find a slew of reminders from Fitz about the steps we need to take when striving for our goals.


Words of Wisdom from Fitz

Refuse to turn down any opportunity.

Be bold.

Shed the labels others give you.

Be brazen.

Put everything on the table.

Push each other.

Engage more.

Dance harder.

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Fitz's words make me think of my friend, Beth. Beth decided to get crazy and now, she is selling paper flower arrangements in our local, hospital gift shop. For real. She started her own business. She saw a need (Do you know you can't always give hospital patients real flowers?) and she made a goal.

Just like that. Bam. Business started.

I'm pretty proud.

Anyway, Fitz and Beth have me thinking about you, thinking about you and wondering what kind of goals you are growing nowadays.

Do tell.

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Don't forget about #RiskRejection. Around these parts, we talk about risk the first Thursday of every month, and we'd love if you would join us.

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Spiritual Misfit-ism

I know about being a Spiritual Misfit.

It's what happens when a Pentecostal preacher's kid marries a former Catholic girl. Spiritual
Misfit-ism looks a little something like this.

It's a mixture of hand raising and navy blue, knee socks, with a sprinkle of the Apostles' Creed.

My friend, Michelle DeRusha, also knows about being a Spiritual Misfit. In fact, she just released her first book on this very subject, and her book looks a little something like this.

It's a mixture of belly laughing and hard faith questions, with a sprinkle of orange Cheez-Its (inside joke you will get after you read the book).

Michelle created something special when she penned Spiritual Misfit. 

By bravely writing her memoir, Michelle wrote something for all of us. The believers, the doubters, and those of us who do a little bit of both.

Enough gushing, let me introduce you to Michelle through a few of my favorite excerpts from Spiritual Misfit.

Michelle on time in the confessional

"Wait, wait, did he say 'my child'? How the heck does he know I'm a kid? Shoot. Crap. Shootshootcrapcrapcrap, can he see me?"

Michelle on the role of God

"God was not accessible in an everyday kind of way. He was like a foreman or a CEO—distant and important, someone you might approach with a serious concern, but not someone with whom you made small talk."

Michelle on the real reason to attend church

"I attended church a couple of times with my Catholic girlfriends as a freshman at the University of Massachusetts, not to find God but to find a boyfriend."

Michelle on serving others

"In doing so, these endeavors moved me from my own head, where I spent a copious amount of time analyzing and speculating about what constituted real faith, to a faith on the ground, in action, where I witnessed glimpses of God with my own eyes."

Michelle on being a when. . .then girl

"I've always been a "when. . .then" girl. When I got into college, then I'd be happy. When I got married, then I'd be happy. When we bought a house, then I'd be happy. When my thighs didn't roll together, then I'd be happy. When I had a baby, then I'd be happy. Would it ever end?"

Michelle on conversion

"I'd assumed that, upon conversion, I would instantly become a new and improved Michelle, as if I'd stepped in a Faith Makeover Machine and exited with a cute bob, radiant highlights, and a brand-new Jesus-like attitude."

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Regardless if you are new to ideas about faith, a seasoned pew dweller, or someone who just asks "Why?" Spiritual Misfit is for you.

And should you need more prodding before you pull the trigger and buy this book, check out what others are saying about Spiritual Misfit. Just scroll to the bottom of this post for other online reviews.

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Comments are closed in hopes you will spend your precious minutes checking out Spiritual Misfit.

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Cheers to the Girls Who Make Me Better

I met up with a few of my favorite girls this weekend. We hung out and devoured every current, trashy, celebrity magazine.

We caught up on the meaningless details of life and on major life happenings. We laughed a lot, cried a little, and sat amazed at the surprising directions God pulls us.

We gave Thomas Wolfe a nod for understanding you can't go home again, but wondered why ideas of home dominate our thoughts. We talked about how much life changes us, but how despite all of our changes, we end up exactly the same.

We played a made-up game in which we assigned songs to each other and predicted life anthems.

You know a game is going to be good when it has an intricate point system and thirteen rules followed-up by a statement saying rules can be changed before, during, and after the game.

Love the girls who push me to live better.

Tell me about you. When is the last time you escaped for some girlfriend time? Do you make it a priority? Why or why not?

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Going With Your Gut and Other Lessons from Women in the Bible

The wise women who line the pages of the Bible have much to teach us about living and loving. Here are a few of my favorite women and the lessons they share about serving others.

1. Servants go with their gut.

Pharaoh’s daughter rescues Moses from the Nile River.

She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. Exodus 2:6

2. Servants take chances.

Rahab hides Hebrew spies.

But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Joshua 2:4

3. Servants embrace the talents they have.

Dorcas makes clothes for the widows.

Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. Acts 10:39

4. Servants right wrongs.

Abigail begs forgiveness for the way her wicked husband, Nabal, mistreated David.

Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the Lord will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master because he fights the Lord’s battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live. 1 Samuel 25:28

5. Servants keep promises, even when it hurts.

Hannah takes Samuel to live with Eli and presents him to the Lord.

…She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.” 1 Samuel 1:21.

6. Servants pray unceasingly.

Anna continuously worships God.

She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Luke 2:37(b)

Your turn. Who are your favorite women in the Bible? What do you love about them? 

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Speaking of wise women, have you heard of the Trailblazing Grandmother Activists Around the World? Totally worth a click.

And let's not forget the lessons we can learn from our tween girls on serving others.

Image credit.

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