Tsh Oxenreider
About the Author

Tsh Oxenreider is the author of Notes From a Blue Bike and the founder of The Art of Simple. She's host of The Simple Show, and her passion is to inspire people that 'living simply' means making room for more of the stuff that really matters, and that the right,...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. Tsh,
    First, let’s thank God for yoga pants lol. All kidding aside, my word for the year is “Intentional”. I plan to roll up my sleeves and be intentional about every day that I am blessed to wake up to. Intentional in my words and deeds and especially intentional about seeking Him through His word. I’m tired of the days just slipping away and not being able to point to something that says, “I sought to glorify Him”. All the best with your new book!
    Blessings,
    Bev

  2. Good luck with your book Tsh. It sounds like exactly what I’d love to curl up with and I look forward to buying it.

  3. I am getting divorced at age 50 this year. God is telling me to learn about finances and to budget and to take fiscal responsibility for myself. This is something I am afraid to do. I am being asked to do it anyway, to do the work. It’s hard, but I know it’s mine to tend to right now.
    Thank you for sharing. It helps to know others are working hard too!

    • Shelly,

      Prayers for you and your family during this divorce. May God come along side you and guide every step of the way. I pray He gives you great mentors and advisors to help you with your finances and budgeting.

      God Bless! 🙂

  4. I lay in bed at 4:00 this morning, thinking about all of the dreaming and planning I’ve been doing, and realizing it is time to get to work. I’ve been home with my kids for the last few months and it has been great. Now it is time for me to work on going back to school and getting a job. I always get hung up on the ‘doing’ step? I am praying that God comes along side to propel me forward, into the action I fear. Thank you for these great thoughts.

    • “…realizing it is time to get to work.”

      Wow, Tiffany, what a good thing to realize this morning! I pray God will lead you every step of the way into your fear. It’s a good place to be. 🙂

  5. I needed this encouragement today, Tsh. I’m at a crossroads and have felt very much like giving up on various things I believe God called me to do. Your words stirred something in me that I’ve been afraid to explore–the idea that this might be the time to be diligent and intentional regardless of the results. I think I’ll need to return to this post again today:)

  6. Oooo…right on time. I’m currently pursuing publication along with building a readership–both of which, at times, puts me in a tug-of-war between wanting to be a diligent worker and wanting to avoid striving in my own strength. I’ve always wrestled with this. Just as you mentioned, I’m so cautious about making it about me or some me-kingdom kind of dream instead of a God-Kingdom dream. I’m cautious about trying to fill a role that is God’s to fill. But sometimes it’s freeing for me to hear that it’s okay to work. It’s a partnership.

  7. So good Tsh! I especially love the emphasis on being a living sacrifice. My focus for the year is the word ‘work.’ It’s so simple and so hard at the same time. I love your website and am looking forward to your book!

  8. “Live simply so there’s may simply live” I may never forget these words. My goal for 2014 is to live intentionally to honor my Lord & to simplify… Which ties directly into your beautiful quote – thank you, God Bless & I look forward to your book<3

  9. “We often mistakenly think God wants us to die to ourselves and our dreams, but this just isn’t true. He wants us to identify with Christ’s death so that our lives are a sacrifice to God.”

    This statement speaks to me profoundly. After a rough year I thought some dreams were dead and I felt lifeless in my soul. However, statements like yours above and Scripture like, “In Him we live and move and have our being,” remind me that while my life is not my own, my dreams belong to Him. He gave them to me.

    I am a living sacrifice. Am I a willing sacrifice?

  10. Yes! Yes! Yes! Everything you have written expresses beautifully what God has been teaching me. My old self must die…but my new self (created in Christ Jesus) must live and live to the full! Thanks for being faithful to share, Tsh!

  11. Get to work! It’s what I’ve been telling myself for a year now. The 2 or 3 hours I spend studying and writing are not enough. I need to be more disciplined in my work for the Lord. Thanks for the encouragement.

  12. Tsh, so timely a post for me, thank you. I am coming off a season of resting in Him after YEARS of chasing, chasing, chasing. 2014 will be a year of hard work for me in achieving those pieces He’s called me to create – my God-sized dream (a faith app). But rather than feeling daunted by it as I have in the past 6 months, I feel rejuvenated! Reading posts like these, knowing other women are tempted by the yoga pants and Downton (which season premiere I DID finally watch, thank you very much), but choosing work over denial, is inspiring…life-affirming…comforting. Thank you for these wonderful words. And GOOD LUCK with the book release! So exciting!

  13. Tsh- first of all..been following your blogs for awhile and i am excited for YOU and this book that you soul-searched…bleed for and if i may be so bold as to say…a little jealous because I don’t know what God wants me to do…I “think” I am listening…but I guess I am not since i feel like I am still floundering…I continue my bible studying/reading each and every am..get up to get kids ready for school hubby to work…then get myself to go to work…wish i could wear yoga pants they really make you look slimming don’t they??? and are soooooo comfy..sigh…but anyway I HOPE I am on the path God wants me to be and try to be patient and for his calling…I hope I don’t fail him too often either…and ask for forgiveness often. Thanks for listening

  14. I’m having a real hard time with this season of my life. I know that God has brought me to the place that I work, but the pressure and mean intent of those around me has me really questioning God right about now! My heart is heavy and I’m worn out. I’m praying that God sees me soon.

  15. Happy for you!!!! I am putting the finishing touches on a novel that has taken me six years to write , have edited, revised, now doing the covers, the back, the front….you probably don’t know what I mean…but I’m gladly self-publishing and have worked hard to make this what I felt inspired by the Holy Spirit to write and put fort. So, yes, here’s to diligence…it is a joy to walk it out…no matter what the results…His plan for the work itself will not fail.

  16. Tsh, congratulations on your new book!

    My hard work this month is focused on finishing and editing my first manuscript. It’s about spiritual fathers and sons/daughters, and I keep hearing so many people talking about the need for this message. I really got derailed the last quarter of 2013 and I’m trying to get back on track. I have the oddest feeling that I need to get it finished and back on track this month, lest the Lord release my message through someone else. So it’s nose-to-the-grindstone!

    Thanks for the encouraging post!

  17. Tsh,

    Congratulations on the book being published! May it bode well for you and the work you are doing!

    God is calling me to be diligent and intentional at work. To do a job that I’m not fond of & don’t really like, but to do it and do it well. He is also asking me to pray especially for my husband and co-worker, medical field & times are tough, so they don’t lose their jobs.

    I’m also working with family to get my aging father moved into an assisted living facility. Doing the paperwork, getting things in order, etc. All with family out of state.

    Thanks for a superb post! 🙂