Five Minute Friday is here once again. The end of a week! I have only joined in by reading them in the last few months, but today I'm jumping back in.
WORSHIP
Little hands folded. Little voices singing. I think that's what He hears from all of us. We close our eyes and say thanks, we lift voices in song, we read our Bible and meditate on scriptures that help us navigate through this thing called life. My favorite sounds of worship are hearing "10,000 Reasons" from a little voice in the back seat just because that's the song that has popped in his head at the moment. He's learning how to praise. We stand in church and hear the music, he dances in the aisle. It tempts me to join him, but I'm held back because I know people will watch. My other favorite times of worship have happened outdoors, in the woods, with just a guitar and voices. Sharing in His creation with Him. Night air all around, His presence falling on us as dew falls in the dusk.
As I get older, I'm learning that worship isn't just a corporate group thing. Worship is in the little butterfly that flies over our deck and the exclamation from my small humans that "God made that butterfly so beautiful to fly to us today mom!". It's in the excitement that they have when they go into the preschool classes and see their friends and I utter a "Thank you Jesus" as I give goodbye kisses for a few hours. It's in the everyday, simple, almost taken for granted moments of joy. And it happens more often than I realize. Beautiful worship for a beautiful Father Who created beautiful people, beautiful children and just beauty.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Five Minute Friday- Broken
Five Minute Friday... Happy Weekend!
BROKEN
They call His name. Loud. They want Him dead. But no one can attest to a law broken. "What is truth" asks Pilate. And the lines are fuzzy. Because that's what we do in this world. We watch those fuzzy lines and wonder how to push just a little harder. As tiny humans we are so quick to defy. So quick to seek the boundary... and to cross it. We are made in His image, yet we are on this round rotating planet where we have free will to explore those boundaries and often lack the self control to stop ourselves. We seek the thrill and find it's often followed by time on our knees. We know, deep inside that the Spirit is trying to be our compass. Trying to guide us back to the line, away from the fuzziness. To a life of obedience and fruit. A place where if we would just say "Yes, Lord", we would not necessarily live in perfection, but in truth. And in wholeness. That rush of wings watching over us, guiding us to the narrow way. The path often less traveled in this place. We are BROKEN. We are a world broken. We need a 'fixer'. A guide. An endless, eternal love that heals. Loves. Gives Hope. As we walk this path, let the Spirit rush in and bring that hope. And embrace the broken. When we embrace it, it is then that we can be healed and loved with an everlasting effect.
STOP
BROKEN
They call His name. Loud. They want Him dead. But no one can attest to a law broken. "What is truth" asks Pilate. And the lines are fuzzy. Because that's what we do in this world. We watch those fuzzy lines and wonder how to push just a little harder. As tiny humans we are so quick to defy. So quick to seek the boundary... and to cross it. We are made in His image, yet we are on this round rotating planet where we have free will to explore those boundaries and often lack the self control to stop ourselves. We seek the thrill and find it's often followed by time on our knees. We know, deep inside that the Spirit is trying to be our compass. Trying to guide us back to the line, away from the fuzziness. To a life of obedience and fruit. A place where if we would just say "Yes, Lord", we would not necessarily live in perfection, but in truth. And in wholeness. That rush of wings watching over us, guiding us to the narrow way. The path often less traveled in this place. We are BROKEN. We are a world broken. We need a 'fixer'. A guide. An endless, eternal love that heals. Loves. Gives Hope. As we walk this path, let the Spirit rush in and bring that hope. And embrace the broken. When we embrace it, it is then that we can be healed and loved with an everlasting effect.
STOP
Friday, July 12, 2013
Present
It's Friday. After a few weeks off (again), here goes a new five minutes! Check out more from Five Minute Friday .
PRESENT
A gift. A present. The present. The moments of sweet silence before the rush of the little feet hit the floor. It's not easy for me to soak in the now. I like to plan and stay "on top of life". But when I let myself go and I sit down in the moment, I feel my spirit refresh. How many times throughout life do I use the words "Not now", "wait a minute", "just a second". How many times do I wish that I could get that moment back from the seemingly important tasks I can check off my list.
I watch her daddy turn her upside down and tickle her feet and soak in the giggles that I know will be gone far sooner than I'm ready for them to be. I see his face light up at the sight of a paving machine on the side of the road and listen with joy at the description of what the machine does and what it will do on the job that day. I have a rare gift of a dinner date out for our anniversary to celebrate the 8 years of adventure we've woven our way through at the guidance of His hand. I build new relationships and realize that He has heard my pleading and now is the time. And I realize that every single day I'm given this present of the present. A time to live into the right now. A gift. A present. THE present.
PRESENT
A gift. A present. The present. The moments of sweet silence before the rush of the little feet hit the floor. It's not easy for me to soak in the now. I like to plan and stay "on top of life". But when I let myself go and I sit down in the moment, I feel my spirit refresh. How many times throughout life do I use the words "Not now", "wait a minute", "just a second". How many times do I wish that I could get that moment back from the seemingly important tasks I can check off my list.
I watch her daddy turn her upside down and tickle her feet and soak in the giggles that I know will be gone far sooner than I'm ready for them to be. I see his face light up at the sight of a paving machine on the side of the road and listen with joy at the description of what the machine does and what it will do on the job that day. I have a rare gift of a dinner date out for our anniversary to celebrate the 8 years of adventure we've woven our way through at the guidance of His hand. I build new relationships and realize that He has heard my pleading and now is the time. And I realize that every single day I'm given this present of the present. A time to live into the right now. A gift. A present. THE present.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
That Summer at Camp
There was one summer that will forever be ingrained in my heart. That one summer I spent being obedient when I really was wondering what kind of out of body experience I had when I applied and accepted the job of counselor. That first day we arrived and I saw more bugs than I had ever seen before. (Except for those summers I spent there as a child.) It was like coming back home, like a piece of me had been there since childhood and always knew I would come back on the other side, the 'grown up' side. And so I did.
I spent what, at times, seemed like the longest summer of my life with some pretty amazing people who became friends almost instantly. We hiked, we swam, we canoed, we sang, we played silly games. There were skits. There was laughter. There was love, lots of love. Love and prayers over every child who entered that sacred ground. I learned a lot about myself that summer. Things that have continued to mold me into who I am as a woman, as a mother, as a child of God. I learned to build a camp fire. I learned to craft. (I could still use some help in the craft area!) I learned that when you're already soaked to the bone in the rain, just keep hiking because there's beauty in the rain. And beauty in the appreciation of dry, warm clothes when the rain is done. I learned to pick up a craw fish. They don't pinch when you grab that little area on their back. I learned how to open my heart to kids. To hear their hearts and to listen, really listen to them because what they say is important and matters. They are all smarter and deeper than they get credit for sometimes. I learned that I could endure. In those early showers and the diet sun drop hidden in a canteen so i could manage to wake up, I grew up. I am now much better prepared for the little hands that cup my face at 5:30am and say "mommy, I'm awake!". I learned that obedience is a blessing, even when it's a challenge.
So on nights like tonight, as I sit here on the deck and see the setting sun and feel the breeze blow by and smell the summertime, I remember so fondly that summer. That beautiful, hot, tiring, glorious summer. And I remember the friends I made. The way we felt the presence of the Holy Spirit each night as we sang out in the cool, damp evening air. Every year I remember. And I'm grateful for those beautiful memories.
I spent what, at times, seemed like the longest summer of my life with some pretty amazing people who became friends almost instantly. We hiked, we swam, we canoed, we sang, we played silly games. There were skits. There was laughter. There was love, lots of love. Love and prayers over every child who entered that sacred ground. I learned a lot about myself that summer. Things that have continued to mold me into who I am as a woman, as a mother, as a child of God. I learned to build a camp fire. I learned to craft. (I could still use some help in the craft area!) I learned that when you're already soaked to the bone in the rain, just keep hiking because there's beauty in the rain. And beauty in the appreciation of dry, warm clothes when the rain is done. I learned to pick up a craw fish. They don't pinch when you grab that little area on their back. I learned how to open my heart to kids. To hear their hearts and to listen, really listen to them because what they say is important and matters. They are all smarter and deeper than they get credit for sometimes. I learned that I could endure. In those early showers and the diet sun drop hidden in a canteen so i could manage to wake up, I grew up. I am now much better prepared for the little hands that cup my face at 5:30am and say "mommy, I'm awake!". I learned that obedience is a blessing, even when it's a challenge.
So on nights like tonight, as I sit here on the deck and see the setting sun and feel the breeze blow by and smell the summertime, I remember so fondly that summer. That beautiful, hot, tiring, glorious summer. And I remember the friends I made. The way we felt the presence of the Holy Spirit each night as we sang out in the cool, damp evening air. Every year I remember. And I'm grateful for those beautiful memories.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Imagine
It's Friday... you know what that means.... Five Minute Friday!
Imagine
GO.
A stick is suddenly a large paddle that takes us on a canoe in the clouds... we have a mission. We are searching for monsters. Not mean ones, "the nice kind, the ones that really aren't real." We take off, we ride with a puppy, a lion, a blue puppy and a blue blanket. Sometimes a purple bunny named Sophie joins us too. As we fly the clouds take shape- a dog, a duck, a bear. We soar fighting the monsters through our back yard wonderland. And then we get them. And we smile. And we fall to the ground laughing. And we go in for a snack because that adventure was amazing and built more memories than our tummies can handle.
And I grasp this memory so tight that I almost squeeze it to death. Because this is what childhood is made of. This is the part we grow out of. The part where we see a stick and it's nothing more than a stick. It fell from the tree and must be picked up from the yard. Another task. But when did we lose the possibilities in the ordinary things? When did we get too big to make those ordinary objects something extraordinary that is never wrong because when you live in a world of possibilities, nothing can be wrong. When we imagine, when we dream... that is where life begins. That is where we remember that we can make a difference in the world. When we live in the world we imagine can be possible, it becomes a beautiful world filled with all the potential of the future. Dream it. See it. DO IT.
STOP.
Imagine
GO.
A stick is suddenly a large paddle that takes us on a canoe in the clouds... we have a mission. We are searching for monsters. Not mean ones, "the nice kind, the ones that really aren't real." We take off, we ride with a puppy, a lion, a blue puppy and a blue blanket. Sometimes a purple bunny named Sophie joins us too. As we fly the clouds take shape- a dog, a duck, a bear. We soar fighting the monsters through our back yard wonderland. And then we get them. And we smile. And we fall to the ground laughing. And we go in for a snack because that adventure was amazing and built more memories than our tummies can handle.
And I grasp this memory so tight that I almost squeeze it to death. Because this is what childhood is made of. This is the part we grow out of. The part where we see a stick and it's nothing more than a stick. It fell from the tree and must be picked up from the yard. Another task. But when did we lose the possibilities in the ordinary things? When did we get too big to make those ordinary objects something extraordinary that is never wrong because when you live in a world of possibilities, nothing can be wrong. When we imagine, when we dream... that is where life begins. That is where we remember that we can make a difference in the world. When we live in the world we imagine can be possible, it becomes a beautiful world filled with all the potential of the future. Dream it. See it. DO IT.
STOP.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Song
Happy Friday! Five Minute Fridays are becoming a routine for me! Here I go...
SONG
When I think of my life, the word 'song' takes me through every turn. There is a quote I heard once- I have no idea who said it- "When you look back, everything in life happens to music." This is profoundly true in my life for several reasons. One- I love music. I love the way a song can bring to light an emotion that words cannot even begin to cover. Two- I learned at a young age that music was one of my gifts. Beginning at age 7 in that first piano lesson I remember feeling the life that came with the music. That each note made more sense... to create music in silence is in itself a small miracle. That feeling grew as I took on the flute and made it a focal point for my college degree. It grew with my desire to make my career teaching young people how to find their music, how to love their song. It grew even stronger when that dream came to fruition and even now as I'm paused from that path and living another part of my journey, realizing that I currently have another song to sing that is just as beautiful as my dreams were then.
I think of the songs that define large moments for me. The songs I hear on the radio that take me back to that precise moment, that exact emotion, sometimes so overwhelming that I cannot listen to the whole song because the emotion is too great. They are not all positive experiences. But they are my soundtrack. They are my life. They are the music that makes me who I am. And I find myself continuing to listen for the next song, the next moment, the next piece to this beautiful medley. And I'm grateful that I have another day to sing.
SONG
When I think of my life, the word 'song' takes me through every turn. There is a quote I heard once- I have no idea who said it- "When you look back, everything in life happens to music." This is profoundly true in my life for several reasons. One- I love music. I love the way a song can bring to light an emotion that words cannot even begin to cover. Two- I learned at a young age that music was one of my gifts. Beginning at age 7 in that first piano lesson I remember feeling the life that came with the music. That each note made more sense... to create music in silence is in itself a small miracle. That feeling grew as I took on the flute and made it a focal point for my college degree. It grew with my desire to make my career teaching young people how to find their music, how to love their song. It grew even stronger when that dream came to fruition and even now as I'm paused from that path and living another part of my journey, realizing that I currently have another song to sing that is just as beautiful as my dreams were then.
I think of the songs that define large moments for me. The songs I hear on the radio that take me back to that precise moment, that exact emotion, sometimes so overwhelming that I cannot listen to the whole song because the emotion is too great. They are not all positive experiences. But they are my soundtrack. They are my life. They are the music that makes me who I am. And I find myself continuing to listen for the next song, the next moment, the next piece to this beautiful medley. And I'm grateful that I have another day to sing.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Wild Things
So I'm reading this book called Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys
Can I just say that raising a son is a daunting task? All the love, cuddles, dirt, potty words, mighty machines and energy... it's overwhelming! But it's normal. That's one of the most encouraging things about this book: I learned my son is normal. He's a boy. A little boy. He's growing up into a man.
I'm in the process of raising a boy to be a man- a strong, bold, man.
Go get the book if you're also raising a boy and finding yourself in an alternate universe like I am. And get ready for the ride of your life!
Friday, May 10, 2013
Comfort
Five Minute Fridays are beginning to be my favorite part of Friday!
Today as I think of COMFORT, I think of a familiar robin family that has taken up residence on our back deck. This family started out as a few pieces of straw we kept removing from the drain pipe over our deck. "We don't want a nest so close to the house", we would say.
Comfort
Today as I think of COMFORT, I think of a familiar robin family that has taken up residence on our back deck. This family started out as a few pieces of straw we kept removing from the drain pipe over our deck. "We don't want a nest so close to the house", we would say.
This family of birds has given me a whole new appreciation of true comfort. The eggs were laid. The babies were hatched. The mama began the heart wrenching experience of sustaining life. And our birds receive comfort from their life source. And we watch.
And we celebrate them and their little lives and all the things ahead for them. And we are reminded where our true comfort comes from.
"Look at the birds of the sky, they don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they?" (Matthew 6:26)
Friday, May 03, 2013
Brave
BRAVE
As I reflect on brave, my thoughts go straight to my beautiful little girl. I have never met someone who is quite so fearless and quite so passionate. In her precious little 15.5 months of life, she has taught me so many things about myself. She challenges me to be better, be more patient, to have more grace, to show love. She will scream loudly, fight for what she wants, and then grab my face and cover me with "nosy kisses" and slobber filled love. She's the first one up the slide, face covered with dirt and sand but her sparkly necklace gleaming.
My Evelyn Ruth is fierce. Since her first flips and kicks in my belly she has been confident. She is bold. She is determined. She scares me to death. And her passion mystifies me. I have every confidence that her brave personality will move mountains. She will be a world changer. She will be strong enough to live her dream.
That is my prayer for you little one- stay brave. Be brave enough to shout what you believe in no matter who hears. Stay brave enough to see no boundaries that will hold you down. Be brave enough to fly.
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Friday, April 12, 2013
Here
So I took a few week break but I'm jumping back into the community of Five Minute Friday. Head on over to Lisa Jo Baker's blog to find some inspiring words from people from everywhere!
Here
As I sit here this morning I reflect on my 'here'. I'm here in this world of mothering that seems to have more highs and lows than anything I've done before. I'm waking to sunshine and more groggy than usual because my daughter stretched her night owl wings through the night. I'm here in this world where my every moment is dictated by small humans. My moments are amazing and beautiful or filled with doubt or questioning.
I look out and see the sunshine and the deep green of the grass and I read from Psalm 23 how the Lord lets me lie down in green pastures and I envision what that will look like one day with Him because the green of the grass is one of my favorite parts of spring. And my thoughts are inspired to feel restoration. Here. In the moment with the Lord and the sunshine and my little man in the background chatting busily about steam rollers and mighty machines. My here has taken a long time to accept and fully embrace. My here is right where He wants me to be. So I'll go lie down in the grass and the sunshine with that little chatty voice and just be. Here.
Friday, March 15, 2013
5 Minute Friday- REST
Once again I join in with a large community over at Lisa-Jo's blog for a Five Minute Friday! I encourage you to check it out. It's not just for moms, there's encouraging words for everyone. Let's face it, who doesn't need a little encouragement now and then?
REST
It's something I can't seem to do but it's always on my list. Right after that load of laundry, that meal for the kids, that last bit of cleaning that I've put off all day. On the off chance my "check things off the list" personality just gives in to moments of calm and peace, I'm better for it. It's a reminder that I need it. That I thrive in it. It makes me a better mother, a better wife and a better person in general.
I often forget that the Lord commands us to go and do and that hand in hand there's plenty of scripture that he commands us to rest. "Be still and know that I am God." How can you be still and not find rest? That's just one of many.
We live in such a fast pace world. It's more natural to me to be talking on the phone and making lunch for the kids while checking my email than it is for me to sit down and soak in a moment of doing nothing. It's uncomfortable. It's sometimes boring. It's ESSENTIAL. I'm working on being intentional about still time. Being intentional at picking up that book I've been trying to read for 3 months at night instead of continuing to clean, fold and fix. The world needs me rested and joyful in order to fulfill my purpose. So here goes...
STOP
REST
It's something I can't seem to do but it's always on my list. Right after that load of laundry, that meal for the kids, that last bit of cleaning that I've put off all day. On the off chance my "check things off the list" personality just gives in to moments of calm and peace, I'm better for it. It's a reminder that I need it. That I thrive in it. It makes me a better mother, a better wife and a better person in general.
I often forget that the Lord commands us to go and do and that hand in hand there's plenty of scripture that he commands us to rest. "Be still and know that I am God." How can you be still and not find rest? That's just one of many.
We live in such a fast pace world. It's more natural to me to be talking on the phone and making lunch for the kids while checking my email than it is for me to sit down and soak in a moment of doing nothing. It's uncomfortable. It's sometimes boring. It's ESSENTIAL. I'm working on being intentional about still time. Being intentional at picking up that book I've been trying to read for 3 months at night instead of continuing to clean, fold and fix. The world needs me rested and joyful in order to fulfill my purpose. So here goes...
STOP
Friday, March 08, 2013
Home
There's this thing on this blog I follow called Five Minute Friday. It's been a fun thing to explore and I'm finally mustering the courage to go there, to write for 5 minutes and to see what comes out of it. If you'd like to check out Lisa Jo's blog, you can here: http://lisajobaker.com/five-minute-friday/
Home
"When you return to the familiar, the unchanged, you realize just how much you yourself have grown."
Over the years I have returned to the house I grew up in numerous times. My parents have lived there for almost 30 years. It's the first place I found home. Not because of the walls, the familiar cracks in the sidewalks where we rode bikes each night from the warmth of spring to the chills of fall, or the corner room I spent years in as I learned who I was navigating the teen years, but because of the love and the lives that inhabited that house with me.
Now as I'm learning to fly outside of that comfy place of love, I still find myself recalling those familiar moments in that home. And I remember that a home is so much more than the place. It's not confined to a house. Home is that places in my heart where the memories and the familiar live. It's the places where the love and the living and the everyday and special moments reside. Home is big enough for the past and the present and whatever the future holds. Home isn't a place, it's a part of me that goes wherever I go.
I pray that as I raise these little humans, I can instill that home inside them. That they know they can always find the love, the laughter and the comfort of home wherever they are. And they can come back no matter how they have grown and find just that. Just like I do.
Home
"When you return to the familiar, the unchanged, you realize just how much you yourself have grown."
Over the years I have returned to the house I grew up in numerous times. My parents have lived there for almost 30 years. It's the first place I found home. Not because of the walls, the familiar cracks in the sidewalks where we rode bikes each night from the warmth of spring to the chills of fall, or the corner room I spent years in as I learned who I was navigating the teen years, but because of the love and the lives that inhabited that house with me.
Now as I'm learning to fly outside of that comfy place of love, I still find myself recalling those familiar moments in that home. And I remember that a home is so much more than the place. It's not confined to a house. Home is that places in my heart where the memories and the familiar live. It's the places where the love and the living and the everyday and special moments reside. Home is big enough for the past and the present and whatever the future holds. Home isn't a place, it's a part of me that goes wherever I go.
I pray that as I raise these little humans, I can instill that home inside them. That they know they can always find the love, the laughter and the comfort of home wherever they are. And they can come back no matter how they have grown and find just that. Just like I do.
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
The Years are Short
"The days are long but the years area short."
Oh my, how true this is. It comes to me in the quiet sweet moments and in the screaming, loud, chaotic moments that make up our days. My world was rocked last week as we celebrated with my little E man. He turned 4. FOUR. As in, four whole big years ago we welcomed him into the world on that snowy Sunday morning a week before we thought he would actually arrive. It's been 4 years since Klondike (aka: the white wonder dog) lost his place as our child and became our dog. It's been 4 years since we drove out of the parking garage at Baptist Hospital forever changed and drove down West End with everyone else whose lives were the same.. they were simply taking a lunch break at noon on a Tuesday. But not us.. not our lives. We were now responsible for a small, helpless human handpicked by God to be raised by us. To this day it still perplexes me at how the world goes on as usual when miracles like this happen everyday. Amazing.
When I ask how 4 years have gone by so quickly, my Mr. Literal simply replied, "Well, I had 4 birthdays mama! Now I'm 4!" And oh the excitement in his voice. He's so proud to be growing up. So eager to be big and do things like "go to high school and have my own iPad and be able to watch the Monster Truck movie whenever I want to". (Yep, exact quote from my 4 going on 40 child)
Gosh I wish I could explain to him that growing big isn't always wonderful. It's not as glamorous as it seems. Somewhere along the way the magic changes into reality and you have to actually be "big". And the "big" years last longer than the "little" years. You can't go back, no matter how hard you try.
Here's to you my son. Here's to your enthusiasm at little things, your tender heart, your passion for mighty machines and how you can light up a room with your garage door dance. (That's his signature dance move, ask him about it next time you see him!) May you always carry the same if not more joy with you as you grow to be that big boy you long to be. Hang on though, soon you will see... "The days seem long, but the years are short."
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Life before... them.
So I warned you, I might sit and stay a while on the mommy topic. Who can blame me, it's my life! Day in, day out, most nights- two or three times- and weekends. It never stops. I heard a celebrity on a talk show today (No, I don't usually watch them but today the boy is at school and the girl is napping for more than 30 minutes, let's call it my "lunch break") an expecting celebrity was asked how she was handling the fact that she was about to become a parent. Her answer was "I'm sort of dreading it. I like my life, I like the way things are. I don't want everything I know to disappear and become a new life." My first response was to roll my eyes. Then I stopped and thought a moment. Other than the "dreading it" part, I think I might have uttered those words in fear a mere 4 years ago. Among the feelings of excitement over baby blankets and little boy things and the joy of the unknown approaching, I had the fear. The reality set in. The "what have we done" crept up in my spirit. And then I had him. That little face down bundle that took me 2 hours of pushing to finally meet changed my world. And I can't remember what in life could have been more profound, more amazing, more miraculous and more wonderful than that change.
And now I live within this new life and embrace it. On the "mama can we cuddle on the couch and read a book" days and the "I don't want dinner, not gonna eat it" nights, I feel the change. I feel the love. I feel the time slipping away from me so quickly that it takes my breath away sometimes. I had the same feeling a year ago before baby girl came into our lives. But this time, I knew to embrace the newness because once I saw her it didn't matter. It came with it's own set of worries and experiences. I've learned that after that first big jump, there will be a constant change in the air. And I know now not to be afraid of it because the Lord will take it and make it beautiful. All my fears and all my joys.. right there in His hands. Will somebody remind me of this every now and then as the years unfold? ;)
And now I live within this new life and embrace it. On the "mama can we cuddle on the couch and read a book" days and the "I don't want dinner, not gonna eat it" nights, I feel the change. I feel the love. I feel the time slipping away from me so quickly that it takes my breath away sometimes. I had the same feeling a year ago before baby girl came into our lives. But this time, I knew to embrace the newness because once I saw her it didn't matter. It came with it's own set of worries and experiences. I've learned that after that first big jump, there will be a constant change in the air. And I know now not to be afraid of it because the Lord will take it and make it beautiful. All my fears and all my joys.. right there in His hands. Will somebody remind me of this every now and then as the years unfold? ;)
Friday, February 01, 2013
And she's back....
There are times in life that we recall something and it seems as though it happened yesterday when, in fact, it's been years. This site is one of those things. I could fill in the blanks of the last 2 years but I fear it would be a mix of boring and busy so I'll refrain. Instead, I'll just pick up here, where I am. I feel a tug in my soul to re-visit the blogging world. Why? I don't know yet. Maybe the Lord has a plan for me that I don't yet see. Not that it would be the first time this has happened.
The first topic I'll dive into is motherhood. I may just sit on this one for a while so if you're not a mommy, feel free to check out now. If you are a mommy, I imagine you are sitting down right now and breathing. Either it's bedtime or nap time for the little ones, or your husband has the children in his care for you to steal away for a few sacred minutes to just be. Or if you're lucky, it's those 5 minutes in the day that your children are entertaining themselves. Whatever the case may be, enjoy your moment. I understand those moments all too well.
I read two articles recently about mothers. One was "The top things not to say to a working mother" and the other "The top things not to say to a stay home mom". Both of these articles disturbed me. Not because of their content, but because they even had to be written in the first place. As I read each one, I had a sudden urge to grab a megaphone and run outside screaming, "Why can't we just encourage each other?". At the end of the day, we are all moms and we are all trying to figure out how to best love our children, best support our families, and be the best we can be. Whether we wear heels or socks all day, we are all connected. We all love our kids. We all make the decisions that are best for our family. We all wear many hats and beat ourselves up over silly things. It makes me wonder if every one of those people saying the things in these articles was to walk up to a mother and say "Hang in there, you're doing great", what kind of difference could that make?
So for all of us who carry daily mommy guilt to the office or to do that next load of laundry, I say this: "Hang in there, you're rocking it!". We're not perfect but we're doing our best. And at the end of the day, that's what matters.
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