“Sometimes we stare so long at our balloon in the sky we forget that our ice cream is melting on our plate”
I’m in a season of incredible change, exciting change, longed for yet scary change, it’s a season of following callings and making big decisions that don’t just effect my life but other people’s as well. For a long while I became guilty of staring constantly at the balloon in the sky [my heart's desires] I couldn’t appreciate the ice cream on my plate. The ice cream on my plate is yummy, beautiful, tasty and unique. It may not be the flavour I most wanted, in fact it may have the occasional sour taste, but it is beautiful nonetheless.
One of my favourite quotes from the book Do Hard Things is “what we become later in life largely depends on what we become now”. In truth, for the last few years, I have not lived in this way, I have not lived in true appreciation for what & who is right in front of me. I have not always seen the beauty in the hard moments, I have not always been in a place of thankfulness, I have not always been able to see that my actions now effect who I could become, or not, in the future. I think I felt that I was in a season of waiting and waiting and waiting. In many ways, that was true, the problem was how I struggled during my wait instead of realizing waiting is also preparing and every difficult challenge needs a lot of preparation!
I have no doubt that I am just where God needed me to be, in order for me to be part of a pretty big and amazing situation. Suddenly the balloon is something I’m not just staring at but I’m actively holding. The reality is, the balloon may blow away, it may pop, but through it all there’s a plan and my role is to serve, love, do all I can to hold on tight and believe the balloon can fly. My role is to choose thankfulness and to be both the change I want to see in the world, and be the person I know God wants me to become. Through the “impossible” challenge(s), I’m going to choose joy. I doubt it will always be easy, but I know joy is part of the solution, it mobilizes, motivates, encourages and provides.
My name is Frugal Trenches and I choose Joy! I do not, however, own a green dress and lately when I think of joy I imagine myself in a green dress, holding a balloon and an ice-cream cause I’m greedy like that 
And one day I am going to get a photographer to take a picture of me in a green dress with my ice cream and balloon and I will share it here! The picture…not the icecream! :0)
Do you know what your balloon is? Do you see the beauty in your icecream?
