Let's Thrive over 65!

Do you ever journal? I mean, do you write a note or a thought or a word in a notebook?  I started art journaling this year, and I recommend it to you, to everyone.  The one thing I love the most is that there are only the rules that you make - its doodling, its taking some time to declutter your mind, its a few minutes with your feet up or away from the noise of your life. There's no rhyme or reason why I decided to put these words or scripture with the doodle art.  But there doesn't have to be, and I certainly enjoyed playing with color.  Grab an old planner - I got mine free at a yard sale - and start doodling.   Write a note about why you picked the colors, or what you saw that made you laugh today.  I've just been journaling over the summer (2026) and I've already reread my own words and was surprised - we can't remember every thing we ever thought.   Try It!

Here is the link for the book that my Women's Fellowship Group will be focusing on in SEPT & OCT of '26.   Follow along with your own copy of this book, also available on Kindle.  This is the book "Aging with Grace" 

Follow this page for weekly notes and reflections I'll share, using study questions from this book, my own life experiences, and scriptures from the Bible.

Many women I have talked with over the last year have the same concerns: how do we live our best lives while our bodies are aging and our society does not honor us as senior women? How do we put one foot in front of the other and live with the same joy that we have celebrated through our earlier years?

Our Fellowship & Study begins September 17.   Come back and join us here on this blog!

Be Blessed! sb

FROM SERENITEA TO SERENITY

                                    

Hello there!  Thanks for stopping by! 

THE BEGINNINGS OF THIS BLOG AND WHAT IT EVOLVED TO BE

I started this blog "Serenitea-sb" in 2012 to share the tea parties I held, the menus, table settings, linens, decorations - all ways we found serenity.  I've discovered as I look back, that several of these guests have passed away, so having the memory of time spent together with their photo has been comforting to their family as well as to me, a tea party friend.  As time passed, I began to share my journey with weight loss and getting physically fit - something I'd never done in this way.  And from that I have written many personal thoughts about my faith, and the growth I experienced through all of the above.  

FROM SERENITEA TO SERENITY

So now in 2026, I have decided to share my writing again and invite you to be a part of it.  Though my blog is still called "Serenitea" you will find it is not just about tea!  I hope you will follow along as I share my thoughts, writings, and women's fellowship notes on the studies my friends and I are doing. Plus, if doing a bit of artsy projects brings you serenity, I hope you will pull up a chair because there's space around my table for you.  Let's enjoy some fellowship & creativity together!

BLOG POSTS FROM THE PAST

Take a tour through the posts from the past: tea parties, devotions, weight loss journey which includes my thoughts and concerns about making big changes in my lifestyle.  

BLOG POSTS BEGIN AGAIN

Beginning mid-September of 2026, I plan to be posting notes from my Women's Fellowship Group as well as regular thoughts and ideas that will inspire you all!

We'll be diving into the "Aging with Grace" book based on Psalm 92:12, 14.  You can purchase it if you wish through the Revive our Hearts ministry website or from Amazon. 

Revive our Hearts Womens Ministry

Aging With Grace

For my creative side, follow me on Instagram and YouTube where I share my paper crafting and junk journaling ideas, and inspiration from everyday life with nature that brings me serenity. 

Click on the blue lettered words above and below, which will be an active link to those sites.

Instagram

YouTube

                                

Whatever you do today, find a little time for Serenity!  Be Blessed! sb

HOPING AND PRAYING, WISHING AND WANTING

This post was written in 2014, posted on 9/7/14.  I'm sharing this again on September 8, 2026! for two reasons: to remind myself of accomplishments I've made, that at the time seemed insurmountable (is that a word?) and to be an encouragement to you!  SB

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Have you been hoping and praying that something would happen or change for you?  "I wish this were so."  "I hope that will happen."  "I am praying about that."

For years, I had hoped that 'someday' I would be able to participate in life a bit more actively.  When I became a grandmother (12 times since), I had a rude awakening that just hoping to be in better shape and more physically active, wasn't going to happen by itself.  I knew that in order to keep up with my little grands, I had to make a serious effort to being physically fit.

I do pray, believing that my request will be answered according to God's will and plan for my life.  Hoping to have will power.  Wishing to be more active.  It seemed that no matter how much I hoped or wished, the will power or incentive to accomplish this was not there.  What complicated the will power or incentive was chronic pain.

I've been writing about my journey to being healthy and physically fit at Motions Fitness. I've come to realize that all the hoping and wishing wasn't going to amount to anything without praying and wanting to change.

Since my last post, I have attended "Body Pump", a weight-lifting class. I must admit that I have always wanted proper instruction on how to lift weights and once had hoped to someday have a chance to do this.  But it had been a long, long time since I thought about really lifting weights.  The chronic pain had gotten in the way.  I'd watched the movements and sets from the back of the room, but now that I was in the class, it was really hard to keep up the pace and keep trying without giving up.  Tearfully, at one point, I wondered how I would ever make it to the end of the class in one piece. But then my trainer got right beside me, and helped me with each move, until I got back on track.

That "coming alongside" me that my trainer, Lisa, has done from the very first time we met at Motions Fitness, is the visible part of our trainer/client relationship.  To me, Lisa's actions were above and beyond the "you can do it, you can do it," support I have received at every stage of my work out plan. But to Lisa, this is her commitment to help her client succeed and realize all that is possible.

Before the class ended, the instructor reminded us that every set we do in every class must be a challenge to us or what good would it be? It was as if he was telling me personally that the hoping and praying, and wishing must turn to wanting to be healthy so bad that you keep challenging yourself, again and again and again.

So the tears keep coming, the tears of leaving behind the "I can't" and "am I going to make it" ....  as I move from wishing to wanting.  Nothing I have tried previously ever got me to the stage of wanting such a challenge like this, until now......at Motions Fitness.

I am praying for strength to keep meeting the challenge.

Until next time, keep striving.