"Finish This..."

So one of my friends, and fellow bloggers, Kristin Baione (The Faithful Elephant) started participating in "Finish this." I was inspired to do the same because I often struggle for a topic to write about or my inspiration only comes when something earth shattering happens to me and I need to let it all out. Each week, four bloggers, Nicole (Three 31), Jen (The Arizona Russums), Becky (The Java Mama), and Lisa (COASTLINED), will post sentence prompts for other bloggers to write. The four prompts for this week are... 

1. My favorite recipe is … Anything out of my grandmother's cookbook. About a year before she passed away, my Aunt Donna took all of my grandmothers recipes that were handwritten on notecards or torn out of old newspapers and compiled them into a cookbook. She made each one of us a copy and every time we cook out of the book we are reminded of not only the delicious food that my grandmother use to make but the wonderful woman that she was. She wasn't only teaching us to cook, she was teaching how to love. And every time we cook from the book we are reminded of the lessons she taught us around the table or in the kitchen. She taught us that the most essential ingredient to any recipe for life is a solid family that will weather any storm by your side. 
2. I believe in … having faith. I believe that having faith in God can give you the empowerment to be more and achieve more. I believe in the power of  faith that allows you to forgive. When I was younger I didn't have enough faith to understand or accept that the storms God puts us through are just as important as the times of peace and through these times of struggle we must have faith in order to find the strength to forgive those that have hurt us and survive the storm.  Without faith, we can accomplish very little on our own. Those that walk through life without it, resent those that hurt them and carry around pain that in the end only hurts them. We are all imperfect and we all deserve forgiveness but we can never truly find it in our hearts without a lot of faith. My faith has gotten me through a lot of hard times and has given me the ability to forgive those that hurt me and repair relationships that mean so much to me. 
3. I need to set boundaries … less often. I often times build up boundaries or walls that prevent me from doing things. I am not very adventurous and it's because I build up these walls and tell myself that I can not do something. I also become comfortable with where I am and do not push myself to dream bigger and now is the time to change that and break these boundaries. I want to do more and excel further.  
4. I began living when … I stopped trying to attain perfection. When I realized that life is full of mistakes and imperfections, I really started living. I no longer live with any regrets. Sure, there are a lot of things I wish I would have done, done better or not done at all, but I don't regret a single one because they taught me something and shaped me into the person I am today.  I mean it is what my entire blog is about anyway; it's about embracing this perfectly imperfect life and loving every minute. Like I said in #3, I set too many boundaries for myself because I am fearful that my flaws will stop me or hold me back. However, setting up boundaries causes me to stop living fully every moment. You only live fully when you push yourself beyond your imperfections and learn to love the mistakes and love the flaws. 

If you want to join in the fun simply follow these instructions and have fun, make it imperfect:

1. Sentence prompts will be provided every week. Bloggers: simply answer the prompts, publish on your blog, and add the URL to the link-up.
2. Finish This… occurs every Wednesday.
3. Please include the green button in your post.
4. Tweet about your post and tag @nmhutch, @lisadenoia, @jenrussum, and @thejavamama using the hashtag #FinishThisLinkUp.