Nov 14, 2013 | The Good Word, The Parenthood
Hey friends! I hope you’ve taken a moment to enter this Goosewaddle Giveaway! You can earn up to three entries but it ends at midnight tonight!
The Hubs and I were both competitive swimmers a wee while ago. I swam on my high school swim team, and really enjoyed it, but swimming was never more than something I did for one season out of the year. (Winter, funny enough.)
The Hubs, on the other hand was a dedicated and focused year-round-swimmer, training and competing throughout the year in South Africa from the time he was about ten all the way through the majority of his time at university.
We were very different types of swimmers, and we sometimes laugh at how that mirrors our personalities. I was a sprinter, concentrating on the 50 and 100 Free, occasionally being forced into an individual medley here or there, but absolutely loving relays. (Always a social creature…)
The Hubs, on the other hand, was a middle distance swimmer for the most part. He focused on lengthier races that required careful attention to setting one’s pace, and one careful stroke after the other, pushing the length of the pool time and time again before the race was done.
{The Hubs, rocking some serious butterfly at an outdoor race.}
My competitive nature often meant that rather than focusing on my own pace (even for a 100 Free) I tended to keep an eye on the swimmers in the lanes around me to decide how I was doing. Depending on what teams we were racing, I might make it a goal to keep up or stay just ahead of the swimmers around me.
HH swam in a completely different way. He knew in his mind how many strokes it should take him at a particular pace to get from one end of the pool to the other. He knew the pace he needed to keep — down to the milliseconds per lap — in order to reach the goal time he was aiming at. Because he was competitive on a national level, to him getting the time he was aiming at was more important than making sure he was staying on par or ahead of the swimmers around him.
Unlike my utterly-social self, keeping an eye on the lanes around me, the Hubs knew exactly how to swim his own race.
I was reading in Ezekiel the other day, about the time that God instructed Ezekiel to lay on his side for 390 days, symbolically demonstrating God’s disapproval of the wayward ways of the people of Israel. {Read the whole story in Ezekiel 4.}
The symbolic acts Ezekiel demonstrated were supposed to convict the people of Israel of something very specific: Their need to repent and turn back to God.
I wondered, as I read, what people in Ezekiel’s day thought when they saw him laying on his side, day after day. I wondered if any of them thought his actions were an indication that they should lay down on the ground on their side, too.
Do you ever see the convictions another person is living with and wonder if you should live with the same convictions? I’m not speaking about things clearly laid out in the Bible that we should all determine to do — I’m speaking about the instances where a person is personally convicted by God that they should take a particular course of action with their lives.
Homeschooling is a great example. You might observe some of your friends making the decision to homeschool their kids, but that doesn’t mean it’s what the Lord is calling you to do. Conversely, there might be absolutely no one in your friendship circle that feels called to homeschool their kids — but in your heart you just know, you’re being called to do it.
This is where a living and active relationship with God, through His Holy Spirit, is a vitally important part of the life of a believer.
This is well explained in one of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians:
For the Lord is Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord — who is the Spirit — makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. {2 Cor. 3: 17-18}
If the Hubs had made it his only goal to keep pace or beat the swimmers around him, he might never have accomplished the times he needed to qualify him for National Champs each year. As he would word it, he knew how to “keep his head down and swim his own race.”
I, on the other hand, did not have the bright and shining swimming career the Hubs could boast of. (Don’t worry — he doesn’t.) I never really learned to keep focused on the race that I was swimming. This might’ve meant I won a few races by keeping pace with the lanes around me — but not many.
It also, at other times, meant I tried to keep a pace that was too quick for me. I tired myself out long before the race was over, and on the last lap I was barely able to bring my arms up and over to stroke through the water and it took ridiculous effort to kick my legs — I’d so completely “run out of gas.” I would have faired far better had I swam my race and kept my pace.
In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young says of the Holy Spirit, “He will not force you to do His bidding, but He will guide you as you give Him space in your life.”
It is so good for the people of God to walk in right relationship with God. To pause throughout our day to consult with the Spirit, to find our sense of direction from a better source than what’s happening in the next lane.
We cannot afford to parent our children by looking to the next lane.
We cannot afford to spend our efforts at work just doing whatever we see being done in the next lane.
We cannot afford to only live out the convictions we see being lived by the people in the next lane.
Basing your decision processes firmly on the backs of what people are doing around you is a recipe for making complacent efforts toward complacent goals. “Aim at nothing and you’ll hit it every time.”
Instead of watching the world around you — close your eyes and give an ear throughout your day to the incredible Spirit of God, who can live in your heart and guide your steps because of Jesus.
If you swim your race, you are much less likely to give out of gas, and much more likely to stand, medal-around-your-neck-victorious, on the podium.
xCC
Nov 11, 2013 | Giveaways, The Parenthood
When I was a tiny wee lass, I had a special blanket to love on that I might occasionally wish I still had every now and then. My Mom and I were discussing it the other day — it was a yellow blanket called my “piecey” {I think because I rubbed it to pieces} with satin edges that I loved to stroke between my fingers while sucking my thumb. Yes, I sucked my thumb long enough that I can remember sucking my thumb. No judgment please. And no queries for stories about the antics my brother pulled in attempts to help me stop sucking my thumb, either.
Let’s move on, shall we? My boys each have their own special, especially loved thing (or in the Tank’s case, things). The Bear has a Beaver that I bought in Germany long before he was born. I named it Schatzi, which is kind of like “Sweetie” in German… but the Bear got even more creative and started calling him “Beaver” instead.
{Poor Beaver, he looks a little worse for wear now that that little Bear is five.}
To help the Tank settle down for naps, I started putting one of the tags of his swaddle blankets in each of his hands. And now, at two and a half, his sleepy time routine still includes a “taggie” for each hand. But it works, people! Call him Linus if you want, it works!
{That’s the Tank still wrapped in a taggie after a nap at Goo-Goo and Gammy’s ages ago…}
So we’re rounding the corner on the end of the Belle’s first year, and she has turned her nose up at dolls and shows no particular preference for one plaything over another. I still swaddle her for naps and nighttime (it’s more a routine than anything else at this point) but I’ve been wondering how we’ll move on when the swaddle cloths no longer wrap around her little self, or when she finally asserts her will and says Swaddling, you’re done. I’ve been kind of disappointed that she doesn’t have one thing that is her thing that makes her feel like she’s complete and ready for sleepy time because it has worked so well with our boys.
Cue the introduction of a groovy new product that might solve my problem, and a concurrent celebratory giveaway.
A few months ago, I heard about some new baby blankets called Goosewaddle blankets.
Goosewaddle make super-soft full-size baby blankets (like what you would use in cribs), and smaller “lovie” sized blankies which are the perfect thing for a baby to love on and snuggle up to at sleepy time. I’ll tell you a bit more about the Belle’s opinion of the blankies in a moment, but I first have to mention the quality people behind the company. Because you know me well enough to know I can’t stay on topic too long, and if there’s anything praiseworthy happening behind the scenes, I have to get to that first.
Goosewaddle’s Buy 1, Give 1 campaign means that every time someone purchases a Goosewaddle blanket, the company donates a receiving blanket to a child in need. They work with various charitable organizations to make sure they’re getting to babies who could use them around the world. And the collective Ahhhh kicks off…
Now… the actually blankets are delightful. They are luxuriously soft and have that wonderful old-school satin edging that I remember making me snuggly happy with piecey a few years ago. They’re big enough to grow with baby through the first year, but still small enough to travel with baby into the car or out and about in the stroller. Pram. Choose your own moniker. I’m not sure the Belle has decided she’s totally sold {she seems to have preferences about food and… food!} but I totally love having a new perfect fluffy soft blanket for her crib just in time for cold weather.
The blankets and the blankies come in pink, white and blue and can be bought as a set or individually.
And… {yay!} I get to give one away to one of you lovely readers this week!
We’re giving away a Goosewaddle Gift Set — One Blanket and One Blankie {choose your color!} — to a lucky winner! Honk!
If it’s not for your own little one, it will make a great gift for somebody else with a wee one or a wee one on the way! Just leave a comment below, and hopefully you’ll score your own Goosewaddle later this week! {You can like Goosewaddle and With Love, From Here on Facebook for additional entries.}
And — here I am trying to get back on topic again — a conclusion to the story: to the question of whether the blankie will become the Belle’s piecey, the jury is still out. But so far, she is definitely convinced it’s cuddly and snuggly. See?
I’ll keep you posted! Good luck, friends! More love from here soon…
xCC
a Rafflecopter giveaway
P.S. I almost forgot to tell ya! The cool cats at Goosewaddle gave me a blanket and blankie to try for free. But my review and opinions are absolutely my own. And this giveaway will end Thursday at midnight!
Nov 6, 2013 | The Good Word, The Parenthood
Hi friends! I know it’s been a few days since 31 Days ended and you’re probably thinking I’m going back to my cave and only writing once a month or something. I promise that’s not true! But here’s what is: getting up early really, really, is so much better than not.
After 31 Days ended, I decided to give myself a couple of sleeping-in days to recover. And guess what? That was a bad idea. As if I didn’t learn anything from how great and fulfilling it was to start my day extra early and get stuff done!!
I slept in, didn’t really feel better for having done so, felt significantly less productive, ended up running late on one particular occasion, and suffered the consequences. Don’t make me go into detail, it would just rub it in, MMMkay?
So, before I continue with efforts at inspiring your precious hearts and minds by turning my eyes to Jesus and writing what comes as a result, I thought I’d take a moment to step back, look at the big picture, and tell you what’s on my heart.
First, now that I know I can get up and get stuff done, I have every intention of doing just that, and of being very careful with the time that I’ve been given. I’ve been getting up at 5:30, and I’m usually showered and dressed by 6:00. And our small people have a little clock that turns green
at 7 and that’s when they’re allowed to wake up.
One free first-thing-in-the-morning hour = GOLD, I tell you, GOLD!
Two take homes from this discovery:
- Not letting your children be what wakes you in the morning is very, very wise. Train them to stay in their rooms until the reasonable, parent-appointed wake time. This clock has been a lifesaver for our kids who can’t tell time yet. WORTH IT!
- Getting up early is really hard. But when 9 am rolls around and you are amazed at what you have already accomplished, it feels really good. Yesterday I was free and un-stressed enough to make dinner and bring it to another family before we had dinner… and I’m certain that was because my day didn’t feel like an hourglass that got turned over and started pouring before I woke up.
{My belly button is not a snooze button, and I am NOT an alarm clock!}
In other news, there’s a bigger writing project that’s been on my heart that I’d like to begin making concerted efforts toward. With the occasional use of my golden hour. I’ll share more about that soon.
I’m also planning to write here more regularly and you are likely to see some changes around the site. I will no longer be posting automatically filled ads in the sidebar for right now because I don’t always feel like they line up with my pro-simplicity and greenness and try-not-to-focus-on-the-getting-of-much-stuff-heart. If you see something being advertised here, you’ll know I personally made the decision to put it there.
On that note — if you are a business or website interested in advertising space, feel free to contact me. I am turning down other writing gigs in favor of writing about the things I am passionate about — selling advertising space makes this writing more possible. (If you love this site and just want to donate to make it happen, let me know, too!)
I may also spend some time revamping the look around here again… it’s about time, right? But I haven’t decided whether I’ll throw out the baby with the bath water or just tidy up. Any thoughts?
Get up and get out there, friends! Life is always happening one day at a time!
xCC
Oct 31, 2013 | 31 Days, The Good Word
Hi there! I’m so glad you’ve stopped by! This post is the LAST post of a 31-Day writing adventure I jumped into this month! If you’d like to see the fruits of this labor, you can find the introduction to the series, and a “Table of Contents” with links to each day, right here. Thanks so much for dropping in! I hope you’ll be back soon!
Here it is folks… the last of 31 Days of (continuously) reflecting on the goodness of God! {Without a doubt I’m certain I will continue to think about/write about His goodness for as long as I’m allowed to keep breathing.} The challenge to get up early and write my heart out before breakfast this month was great starting out, but definitely got harder as the month went on.
It was never much of a struggle to find things to say about the goodness of God. I was a little surprised by that, but not very — He is so good, I am quite certain I could spend the rest of my life writing about His goodness every morning. Every morning itself is a reason to write!
Here are a few reflections on what I’ve learned out of this little exercise, that I hope will be helpful for you, too.
While I hope and trust this adventure in writing was an encouragement, and even a challenge to others, to consider the glorious goodness of God and live life accordingly, I sense it might also have been about me seeing what I was able to do (and less about the words on the page). For a long time I’ve had bits and snippets of larger writing projects tucked away neatly in folders in My Documents, and there they have stood quietly without progress.
Now that I realize I could start getting up and putting 1,000 words on a page before breakfast, progressing toward a particular goal, it is time for me to stop making excuses about why I’m not writing more. If I know there’s something in my heart I’m supposed to be turning concentrated effort toward, I can no longer make excuses for why I’m not doing what I’m called to do.
This has also led me to the observation that my children have become one of my greatest excuses. Sometimes, it is completely valid to say I can’t go to this event or do that thing because it just doesn’t work with my small people, but other times, I am almost blaming my kids as the reason I can’t get up in the morning and exercise {although I will admit — it is HARD when you’re nursing a baby and you don’t know when said baby will wake up and you don’t want to leave your hubs at home with a time bomb — extend grace where grace is due}. But really? The baby might also be just the excuse I need to stay snug and warm in my bed instead of getting out there.
{“Mom, stop calling us excuses… we’re opportunities!}
Instead of following some sort of schedule of writing about this on this day or that on that day, I chose to simply write what I felt led to write about during this 31 Days. It was absolutely an exercise in taking life one day at a time. I had to trust as I woke up each morning that I would have something worthwhile to say. And if I was planning on exercising in the morning and needed to write the night before, the Lord, in His glorious goodness, gave me the words in the evening and I wrote them down then.
Like the manna in the desert, the Lord keeps providing:
Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. {Exodus 16: 21-22}
Another lesson from this adventure that MANY of us might need to learn? I am not making rest the priority it should be. Why it is so hard for me to get up in the morning? Because I’m not getting into bed early enough the night before. The Hubs and I almost always have something else Quiver-Tree-related to do or to discuss. There’s probably laundry waiting for me to fold it, or switch it over to the dryer, or a fresh load that needs to be started. And let’s be honest, it’s pretty nice to enjoy those brief and fleeting hours when the wee ones are all sleeping and the house is peaceful.
But did you know that the sleep you get before midnight is actually the most important? And here’s some really great information about your sleep cycles, how to get the most out of your sleep, and why you should NOT be hitting that snooze button…
When I reflect on this, I recognize places in my life where I would like to be further disciplined. If I set the alarm for 5:30, I want my feet to hit the floor at 5:30. I only have a finite number of hours on this Earth, and man, I really want to use them well. Those who accomplish big are often those who “go big” — and give all-out focus toward a singular task as much as possible.
Louis Blériot, has a cool story. He spent countless hours, francs, and years working on building an airplane. He succeeded, became the first man to fly across the English channel in a “heavier than air aircraft,” and is now remembered for his MANY accomplishments.
The conclusion? If I rise up early to meet with the Lord, and spend my days with an ear to His Presence, I am likely to accomplish more of what I was created to accomplish with my life than if I stayed in bed those extra thirty minutes, and felt worse for it.
And about the goodness of God?
There is still so much to say.
Many of you know, have read already, that earlier this year I lost my Dad. The challenge of settling his estate has been significant. The challenge of facing the rest of my life without him, so unexpectedly, even more so. But this month, I think I’ve come alive like never before. I have consistently pondered the many, many reasons I have to be thankful. I’ve celebrated milestones, big and small, like never before.
At the end of the day, almost every day, (there have been a few rough ones) I’ve been teary-eyed, or nearly in tears, with gratefulness, as we put our children to bed.
Life is good.
Do I still feel like the number of tasks on my plate is daunting (I think I said this at the beginning of the month)? Well, kind of, but, taking a moment to reflect, around the house a lot has been accomplished this month, and I’m slowly working toward some strategies that will help me subdue this household management gig, continue to homeschool very well, and enjoy time with my kids and my husband where I am not thinking about the other stuff that needs to be done.
Even in losing my Dad and gaining a part-time job I didn’t ask for, I can see the goodness of God. The people He has connected me with through it. The wisdom I’ve gained from walking through it. The growing closer to understanding my Dad by learning how he did business? A gift from a very unexpected package.
The truth is, we can spend a lifetime on the what-ifs and I-wish-it-were-like-this’s in our lives, or we can accept the cards we’re dealt and learn to recognize the goodness in them. Our lives are not the random dealing of a deck of cards, and good observation and thankfulness will help us see that.
Stop and look for the good today. And tomorrow. And the day after that…
xCC
Oct 30, 2013 | 31 Days, The Good Word
Hello friend! I’m so glad you’ve stopped by! This post is part of a 31-Day writing adventure, of which I only have two days left! I’d love for you to read along for the rest of the series (and beyond…). You can find the introduction to the series, and a “Table of Contents” as each day goes live, right here. Thanks so much for dropping in!
Have you ever been in the middle of what felt like the biggest catastrophe ever, some major crisis-life-event moment, and had a sudden reminder that the rest of the world has no vested interest in your crisis whatsoever? Like when you arrive at the hospital, contractions happening fast fast fast, you’ve barely managed to make it through the halls, to the elevator and up to the birthing floor. You step out of the elevator, and your husband tells the nurses you’re about to have a baby.
They ask you to hang on and turn back to their computer to try to figure out why something isn’t working properly.
Life momentarily feels like a movie, and your scene is reaching a climax… but some new twist in the plot reminds you: Sorry, darling, but you’re not the star of this show.
{And, yes, that totally happened to me. See birth story number three.}
There’s this very interesting moment described in John 3 where John the Baptist’s followers realize Jesus, whom John baptized, was now baptizing — and lots of people were following Him.
It seems as if they asked in a sort of So what are ya gonna do about it, huh? way.
John had a cool and collected reply for them:
“You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” {John 3: 28-30, emphasis added}
John’s answer in a nutshell: I am really, really happy about this. This story isn’t about me, but I’ve had the privilege of being a part of it. Jesus is going to grow in fame and importance, and it’s necessary that my story heads toward a resolution, as a result.
You may never have been told to just hang on a minute while trying to make it through contractions, but I’m sure you’ve had a moment where life had its own special way of reminding you that the world is not revolving around you.
If we listen to the hype, seeing ads on TV or in magazines or online, we might start to believe it actually is about us. We might even say I do deserve a vacuum cleaner that can give me everything. Yes, I want makeup with a perfect finish because I am worth it. Advertising is generally geared toward appealing to our more selfish natures.
But in the ways of God, to go higher, you’ve got to get low. John the Baptist was full of joy because he had the privilege of going before Jesus, whose story was just beginning.
And the truth is, for each of us, we are likely to find much greater joy in serving a greater cause, living our lives with the purposeful decision to remember that we are not at the center, rather than trying to convince the world that we are in fact at the center, and the world needs to revolve accordingly.
So how do we decrease?
Well, sometimes, life has its own special ways of teaching you to decrease without you necessarily making the decision to do so. Unless you have enough money to pay someone else to raise your children, parenthood is a good example of a time when, from Day 1, someone else’s needs are going to precede your own in levels of importance.
It is really hard. But you begin to learn to let go of the belief that you need to make sure things happen the way you want them to all the time, or else you stand to be quite frustrated, because, they just won’t.
While life may hand us some decrease on a platter, it is good for us to make the conscious decision to “decrease ourselves.”
Because in the Lord’s glorious goodness, He decided to build this inverse paradox of greatness in smallness into the laws of His universe.
He will use the weak to shame the strong. He will oppose the proud, but give grace to the humble. He blesses the meek, and says they will inherit the Earth.
So what can we do about it?
Let go of the belief that it is all about you. This is hard. We are born, and we come out hollering, I’ve got needs and I’m gonna holler until somebody meets ’em!!! There are absolutely days where I want it to be about me. When I lost my Dad, I wanted the whole world to stop so that I could just have some clear time to deal with my own pain.
Choose to give in ways that will not tangibly benefit you in return. If I clean my house, I reap the benefits of enjoying a clean house. If I pray for my children, I’m praying with a vested interest in seeing the will of God accomplished in their lives. If I commit time to praying for the child refugees in Syria, I am giving time to a cause that will not benefit me personally. I am saying “This is important, even if, on a surface level it seems like it has nothing to do with me. I can let go of the importance of myself and serve.”
If I commit my finances to sponsoring a child through Compassion, I am choosing to decrease the amount of money I spend on myself, in an effort to further the desire of God that His children care for people in poverty around the world.
I read an amazing story last night about a woman who sponsored a child in each of the countries where Compassion worked. She is currently sponsoring 27 children, writes each of them letters every month, and has visited many of them in their native countries at Compassion centers. Not having children of her own, she chose to give and pour into these children instead.
Her comment at the end the story? That it was a blessing to give, and a privilege.
In this world, it doesn’t make sense that we will be blessed by choosing to decrease — but here is another unexpected treasure from the hand of God. We absolutely are.
xCC
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