Spring/Easter swap

My friend over at Through the Eyes of a Yak is hosting a Spring/Easter swap. I know many of us are feeling a little tired of all the cold, snow, and gray everywhere. In anticipation of spring why not participate in a swap with another family? Details on the swap are here . You will make or purchase something spring inspired or Easter inspired or specifically for Easter basket... and send it to your swap partner. They in turn will send you a surprise in the mail! Participants will be matched according to interest and the number of kiddos you have. You can sign up for the swap by clicking on the email link at the end of her post. Hope you will join the spring fun!

Being content

It's snowing here. That's big news in the rural south. I was enjoying watching the snow gently fall this morning as various song birds visited the feeder on our deck. I couldn't help but think of the many times I have sat at my kitchen table staring out the french doors at the beautiful birds who visit our home. I love watching the birds. It brings me such joy. In that moment I thought I never want to leave this home. I love my home. My home brings me joy. I must confess I am not always so content. On more than one occasion I have looked longingly at someone's yard or play room or office or gourmet kitchen or large laundry room or bonus room or.... you get the picture. I have looked at what others have and wished I had that too. I have compared and envied and wished for more or different or change. Often I justify the longing with "We need" or "If only" as in "We really need an office space" or "If only we had a laundry room instead of a laundry closet".

What I realized this morning was that I have so much to be grateful for. What if I looked at my spouse the way I do other things in my life. What if I was constantly comparing him to other people's spouses and wishing he cooked more or made more money or was more laid back or had blue eyes? That seems ludicrous but the reality is that if I coveted other people's spouses I probably would never find true happiness with my own. I could spend countless hours thinking about what I don't have rather than focus on all the wonderful things I do possess. In our Western culture it is so easy to want what we do not need, to compare unjustly, and to always be discontented. Our consumerist mindset teaches us to always be looking for the next great thing. I want to be like Paul who was content in all things. I have so much to be truly grateful for. So today I give thanks for the joy in my life and say thank you for all my blessings.

From the mouths of babes...

My sister has come to my aide this semester and picks up my kids from school two days a week. Yesterday, while talking my son (who is very much like his Aunt in temperament) and my sister said the exact same thing at the exact same time.

To this my sister quipped, "You know what they say 'Great minds think alike'."

To which my brilliant son replied, "No, great minds think like no one else!"

Touche!

Psalm 119

⁹ How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.

¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.

¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

¹² Praise be to you, O LORD;
teach me your decrees.

¹³ With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.

So after seeing Julie and Julia I have been inspired. No, not to cook my way through 2010 , but rather to live my way through the Word this year. Throughout the end of last year I could not help but consider how much of the Bible just seems ignored or non applicable to Western culture. From my perspective it seems that my Christian experience is a far cry from Biblical mandate. For years I chalked it up to the great cultural divide - you know, believing things don't apply to us because we live in a different time and space. While I do believe that the Bible holds great symbolism and everything shouldn't be taken literally, I also believe we conveniently opt out of a lifestyle that would be less than comfortable for us as Westerners.

I'm not sure what this will end up looking like - I never claimed to be a Bible scholar. I don't plan on growing my hair out to my waist and I cannot fathom going without makeup but I don't think that is the point. Take for example the ten commandments. Most Bible Belt Southerners would concur that the ten commandments are a good thing and that they should be followed. However, what is the Sabbath and how many of us keep it holy? I was struck today when I was reading through them to discover the clear instructions

"No working on the Sabbath; keep it holy just as GOD, your God, commanded you. Work six days, doing everything you have to do, but the seventh day is a Sabbath, a Rest Day - no work: not you, your son, your daughter, your servant, your maid, your ox, your donkey (or any of your animals), and not even the foreigner visiting your town. That way your servants and maids will get the same rest as you." Deuteronomy 5:12-14.

I have not had to work on a Sunday in many years. However, what about giving the others a chance to rest as well? If my family and I insist on going out to eat, getting groceries or gas, or going to the movies aren't we insisting others work on a day intended for rest. I'm not trying to convince others I'm right. What day the Sabbath is on is up for debate. I'm certainly not trying to make others feel bad if they disagree or make other choices. I am trying to make one small calculated effort each day to live by a biblical mandate. I am hoping many small steps will find me in the way of David in Psalm 119

³³ Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
then I will keep them to the end.

³⁴ Give me understanding, and I will keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.

³⁵ Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.

³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.

³⁷ Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word. ^b]">[b]

³⁸ Fulfill your promise to your servant,
so that you may be feared.

³⁹ Take away the disgrace I dread,
for your laws are good.

⁴⁰ How I long for your precepts!
Preserve my life in your righteousness.

Here is to a year of walking in the Truth. Precept by precept.

New Year - Same Old Moi

People tend to always want to reinvent themselves around the first of the year. Isn't that what resolutions are really all about? Casting a wish for betterment out into the Cosmos and hoping somehow that will bring about the change we so desperately desire? Don't get me wrong. There is plenty about me that I want and need my Creator to daily transform. But lately I have just not been myself at all. Do you know that feeling? Feeling like you are walking around in a bad dream as someone else? Well that is how I have felt anyway.

School per usual took over my life last semester. What I am slowly realizing is that it is not all "schools" fault. I am a perfectionist and also tend to focus on one thing at a time. So whatever is taking up the major chunk of time in my life tends to be where my focus lands. Sounds appropriate unless you realize that I have two kids who are rapidly morphing into people all together different than the ones I brought into this world. And a very patient husband... and a ninety-four year old Grandmother who was like another mother to me. Sigh, do you see my dilemma?

To say it rather rudely, I just suck at balance. When I used to homeschool my kids and bake bread from scratch and make every meal from fresh organic ingredients (I only know this because I recently found my entire life in pics from 2007 in a random place on my computer), I felt rather smug, as if I had it all together. It seemed good and right because I spent 100% of my energy on my kids/family. What I know now looking back is that my friendship with my husband was sorely neglected and I had no time whatsoever for myself. Balance - why must you allude me so?

I am of the belief that part of this is strictly nature - genetic inborn temperament, while still other is nurture. My Dad is exactly this way. Well actually, my Dad and my Mom. My Dad in a more helpless way like myself. He simply can't juggle. Plod away at one thing well and let all the other balls land where they may. I swear we don't even notice the cacophony of balls ricocheting around us in deadly fashion. We are just that focused on the one ball we have in motion. Proud of it really. My Mom, well she can certainly hold more than one thing in her mind at a time (and does). She juggles. She just tends to put the lion's share of energy into the task she deems most valuable or necessary at that juncture. Makes sense I guess - unless you are one of the other smaller less important balls.

But I digress, this is not a session with Freud nor are these challenges I face my parent's fault (sheesh now I know where my son gets this from). I just need to allow Creator to realign my thinking and make some changes. He's done it before - I know He's the man for the job:) All this silly rambling really leads me to my point that I am celebrating feeling like myself once more. Not some solely obsessed she-devil - but M.E. I never knew how fond of M.E. I had grown;) I am so grateful this new year for the holiday's that afforded me time to slow things down significantly. I am so grateful for the Arctic blast of air that has turned my rural town into an ice rink for the past week - and afforded me time to snuggle up with the ones I love most in this life. I am thankful for a Creator who gave me a husband with the patience of Job - at least as far as I'm concerned. I am thankful for a niece who prays mighty prayers, a brother-in-law who doesn't view church as a one man show, and the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit. I am full of gratitude to feel spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically more myself than I have in over a decade.

So this - I welcome change that is eternal - not temporal. I thank Father that the wilderness did not kill me and that in fact it allowed me to see the miraculous lengths to which God will go in order to preserve His children. I am grateful for fourteen years of marriage - seven years running away, seven years working in sobriety. I realized the other day it has been like Leah and Rachel. We want the Rachel but we need the Leah. Gratitude for the Leah years - and so excited to see the many "children" that will be birthed over the next fourteen years. God is good - all the time.

The church I attend is like any other church I suppose in small town America, the growth ebbs and flows. There are times when our little building seemed to ready to pop like the finger play (here's the church, here's the steeple, open it up and see all the people). While other seasons it seems like there are more empty seats than full. My church is like any other church in small town America, some times I agree with the Pastor and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I like the worship and sometimes I don't. The thing that makes my church going experience unique is that my Pastor is my sister's husband. In fact my entire immediate family with the exception of my brother who lives hours away, all attend this church.

Yesterday I spent the entire afternoon with my sister and her family. It was an impromptu, fun filled afternoon. It was great. We hung out, we ate food, we talked, we shared, we caught up. I have known my sister my entire life. I thought my life would surely cease to be when she moved out to get married. We attend the same church and we live fifteen minutes from each other and yet, I learned all kinds of stuff about my sister yesterday. This got me me to thinking about what it really takes to know a person. You have to spend time with them. You have to talk to them. You have to listen. You have to be present. I can't just show up on Sunday's and stare at the back of my sister's head and really know what she is going through. Those of us who perhaps have been around the western church for any amount of time know this analogy has been used about our relationship with God. You can't just show up on Sunday and know God. You have to be present with Creator. You have to cultivate a relationship.

But the same holds true for all the people, be they fifty or 250, that sit around me every Sunday in service. I can't expect to have relationships without getting to know people outside those four walls. And if I don't know anything more than the back of their hair and what they said that drove me nuts, well then I'm not prone to really like them much am I? But what if I knew that they said that really annoying statement because they talk when they are nervous? And what if I knew they are nervous because their husband is losing his job, their children are giving them a run for their money, and they too feel so, so alone in this great big sanctuary? Maybe instead of muttering under my breath that I am the last sane person attending church, I might empathize. I might cook a meal and take it over. I might send a message of encouragement on facebook or gasp even in the mail. I might offer to babysit so they can get a break.

I just think it is amazing that after 37 years I still find out things I didn't know about my sister. I'm no extrovert but I love people one on one. God help me know more about your children than how they part their hair and what their political views are.

• Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

• 12.
• Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

• 13.
• Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

• 14.
• And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

• 15.
• Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

• 16.
• Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

• 17.
• And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians (NIV) - bold mine:)

Everyone Has a Story to Tell

I have to make this a really quick post today because in just a few minutes I am going to pick my kids up from school and take my oldest on a date to see the Half Blood Prince. When all the hype started coming out for the new movie I told my kids with no apologies that NO ONE in our family would be seeing this movie until they read the book (in case you didn't know a main character dies). Well Jman finished this week, took an AR test at school on it and made a 100! Since I am pretty sure this is the last day the film will be running in our area I decided to make some arrangements for Miss Thang to go with my Mom and J and I are going to dinner and a movie. So much fun!

But that is not what I wanted to blog about today. I wanted to share some links to three different sites that allow anyone (especially children) to write their own stories. I think storytelling is a great learning tool. How better to learn about the English language than to create stories? It also engages that creative side of the brain and allows kids to share their ideas.

The first site is meddybemps. This is a great learning site for kids in general. They can play all sorts of games but the link should take you to The Young Writers Workshop. This activity gives the children a story starter and they complete the story. If you have a class of new writers or you homeschool and have not done much writing yet, well this is a great place to start. It's fun even to do as a group, allowing each person to tell the next part of the story. How fun would it be to print and post a collaborative story your class or family created! I do want to note for those who care that this site uses imaginative creatures including a kindly witch. If this offends you keep reading... there is a site for you!

Next is tikatok. Tik a Tok allows you to create a story all your own. You can scan in illustrations of your own or use ones found on the site. But the greatest thing about this site is you can order a bound "published" copy of your child's story. How neat is that? Think about what a great gift to give a little one. I also think this really helps validate children in their own creative process. So good!

And the newest guy on the block is storybird. I found out about story bird from Lovedrunk who is an amazing writer herself. I jumped right into this site and created a story you can read here. This site puts a new twist on storytelling. Basically the site gives you access to amazing original artwork from all kinds of different artists. You then pick a picture and tell a story with it. The art inspires the story. Again, what a great tool to use with kids. Allow them to work in groups or work at home as a family to create an amazing original story. The stories are then posted where other storybird users can read them. I was as excited as a little girl when I got my first comment on my story!

Whatever avenue you use, I hope you will tell your story and teach your children to do the same!