Morning! I feel God drawing me to you this morning. I have some quiet time to share what's going on with me and hopefully encourage you also. Ok, I did have quiet time until I wrote that sentence. Now, I have some semi-quiet time: Umizoomi is playing in the background. I'll admit that I allow Linc to get on the iPad in the mornings. I will not be mom-shamed. I have no shame. The TV, phone, and the iPad can be a wonderful tool to the busy mom! I do have to check my time-limits though.
Isn't it crazy that we are in a culture where so many people are watching that moms, dads too, feel like they have to justify themselves to others? We have put so much pressure on ourselves to live up to others' standards and I think we often don't even know what our own standards are first. I have fallen into this trap many times. I can do an entry on this, but I didn't come here for that today.
I love this safe space where I can share what God is working out in my life. I have poured another half-cup of coffee 😀, so that usually gets me super jazzed about everything. Look out, people!
As you know, I have been blessed with two little people in my life. Wow, I am a blessed Momma! Being a momma has many side-effects. I don't know about y'all, but I feel often like I'm falling short or doing it all wrong. I think that comes with the culture. Then, I'm torn between wanting them to have independence and mourning the loss of their littleness. I blame the majority of these feelings on hormones. And Facebook/ Pinterest. I have a love/ hate relationship with both . . . well more with Facebook. I kind of just have a love/ love relationship with Pinterest.
We are doing a few simple things around the house that are packing a big punch. Yesterday my mother-in-law and I cleaned out and organized the back room and made it into Lincoln's playroom. Oh, so fun!! It also will function as my office, but I still have to do some work in that space. Pinterest has been a huge inspiration to me through that process. It's also my first go to for recipes.
I know that we put more pressure on ourselves than mothers did generations before. I yearn for the simple life: a home full of children and a yard with a garden and a large place to play. Chad and I, kids and doggies running around playing, full of light and life. I pray for that right now. I let fear and doubt enter in and forget to lift that vision up to God daily. But, that's another topic for another day.
In the craziness of the early years of motherhood, God has hit me with a giant truth and convicted my heart: I have to stay connected to God.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5 (emphasis mine)
Duh, right? We know this, but I know I have justified many times not setting time aside to read. Here are some examples: I have been up most of the night with the baby, My babies are up early and I don't have the quiet time that I need in the morning. What I've found is--on those hectic mornings--even if I take just 10 minutes and read from the Bible app on my phone, I will feel more emotionally and spiritually grounded and ready for the day. The best scenario is when I get up early and have a good hour to myself before the babies start rousing.
If I'm not reading the Bible, I can be blown this way and that with the waves of this culture and these times. I can also fall into that rabbit hole of doubt and fear that I mentioned. Today's world wants us to be frantic, no time for stillness, fearful of EVERYthing. Many of us don't know where to turn and so we trudge through the day, week, month, year, relying on temporary pleasures for our satisfaction. I have been there. There are days where I am there again. But, God asks for our obedience: to plug into His word and rest there for our own good and for His glory.
Speaking of quiet and stillness, the sound of the iPad has started to infiltrate my brain. I'll have to sign off here and come back again soon. Love y'all!
P.S. I just realized that the vine and branches thing aligns coincidentally--or not so much a coincidence--with the vision of gardening and unplugging from this frantic culture, plugging more into family, simplicity, and quietness with God.
Isn't it crazy that we are in a culture where so many people are watching that moms, dads too, feel like they have to justify themselves to others? We have put so much pressure on ourselves to live up to others' standards and I think we often don't even know what our own standards are first. I have fallen into this trap many times. I can do an entry on this, but I didn't come here for that today.
I love this safe space where I can share what God is working out in my life. I have poured another half-cup of coffee 😀, so that usually gets me super jazzed about everything. Look out, people!
As you know, I have been blessed with two little people in my life. Wow, I am a blessed Momma! Being a momma has many side-effects. I don't know about y'all, but I feel often like I'm falling short or doing it all wrong. I think that comes with the culture. Then, I'm torn between wanting them to have independence and mourning the loss of their littleness. I blame the majority of these feelings on hormones. And Facebook/ Pinterest. I have a love/ hate relationship with both . . . well more with Facebook. I kind of just have a love/ love relationship with Pinterest.
We are doing a few simple things around the house that are packing a big punch. Yesterday my mother-in-law and I cleaned out and organized the back room and made it into Lincoln's playroom. Oh, so fun!! It also will function as my office, but I still have to do some work in that space. Pinterest has been a huge inspiration to me through that process. It's also my first go to for recipes.
I know that we put more pressure on ourselves than mothers did generations before. I yearn for the simple life: a home full of children and a yard with a garden and a large place to play. Chad and I, kids and doggies running around playing, full of light and life. I pray for that right now. I let fear and doubt enter in and forget to lift that vision up to God daily. But, that's another topic for another day.
In the craziness of the early years of motherhood, God has hit me with a giant truth and convicted my heart: I have to stay connected to God.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5 (emphasis mine)
Duh, right? We know this, but I know I have justified many times not setting time aside to read. Here are some examples: I have been up most of the night with the baby, My babies are up early and I don't have the quiet time that I need in the morning. What I've found is--on those hectic mornings--even if I take just 10 minutes and read from the Bible app on my phone, I will feel more emotionally and spiritually grounded and ready for the day. The best scenario is when I get up early and have a good hour to myself before the babies start rousing.
If I'm not reading the Bible, I can be blown this way and that with the waves of this culture and these times. I can also fall into that rabbit hole of doubt and fear that I mentioned. Today's world wants us to be frantic, no time for stillness, fearful of EVERYthing. Many of us don't know where to turn and so we trudge through the day, week, month, year, relying on temporary pleasures for our satisfaction. I have been there. There are days where I am there again. But, God asks for our obedience: to plug into His word and rest there for our own good and for His glory.
Speaking of quiet and stillness, the sound of the iPad has started to infiltrate my brain. I'll have to sign off here and come back again soon. Love y'all!
P.S. I just realized that the vine and branches thing aligns coincidentally--or not so much a coincidence--with the vision of gardening and unplugging from this frantic culture, plugging more into family, simplicity, and quietness with God.
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