Joy in the Journey

Words. They are powerful. The person who made up the childish rhyme “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” was a liar. Whomever it was, they were just trying to cover up the fact that the words really were hurting them. We can all think of times that words have cut us deeper than any weapon could. We’ve also probably all seen the studies that have been done with plants. The plants that have been bullied or talked harshly to do not thrive as well as plants that are treated kindly. Considering that we are made in the image of God, and God SPOKE the world into existence, it makes sense that our words would be powerful.  I’ve been thinking about the power of words for a long time. And I could very easily beat myself up for all the wrong ways that I have used my words, especially in parenting. But I’m not going to. And I don’t want you to, either. Instead, I’m going to focus on how I can improve myself.  I love this quote from ...

How do you measure you daily success? For me it goes something like this: 1) The HAVE To's. This includes the basic needs of everyone to be dressed and fed in the day.  2) The NEED To's. This includes homeschooling, getting out of the house, everyone being showered or bathed. Laundry, dishes, cleaning the house, reading to the kids, etc. 3) Then there's the WANT To's. Organize the shop, clean the bathroom (which I rarely do), write someone a letter, do grocery shopping before the "critical point", have a meeting with a friend, go to small group, that kind of thing. I mentally keep these lists and I only count my day as "successful" if I accomplish something in the third category of things I want to do. Sounds a little silly, right? Being a mom MAKES A DIFFERENCE! I was talking to a friend about this and realized I have my picture of daily success completely screwed up! As a mom, how many things do I do daily that are important, vit...

Ahh, the mommy meltdown... I remember my first. I remember everything becoming so overwhelming and difficult that I melted. I ran to my room, flung myself onto the bed, grabbed a pillow and well... melted into it. Cried! I remember thinking to myself "It's okay. It's just a mommy meltdown." I was scared. I felt like I was failing, like I couldn't do this mom thing because I was having a meltdown, because everything felt so big and hard and OVERWHELMING! I had a cry, took a little break, got back up, and continued on.  The first days of motherhood are rough! The first months... maybe all of it. The exhaustion! Oh, the exhaustion that makes it hard to see straight, to feel straight, to do anything and feel like a whole human being. The ability to focus , I can't tell you how many times I forgot my phone and left the oven on in those early days. And the, duh, dun, duh (drum role please) the feeling of OVERWHELMED! That feeling, that awful, overpowe...

Many people find adjusting to motherhood a hard thing. Suddenly their world, which was huge with endless possibilities, becomes very small. Pretty much life becomes centered around keeping this little person alive and happy. Feeding baby, pacing the same floor or rocking in the same chair over and over again, changing diapers, trying to get baby to sleep so you can snatch some sleep, we all know what it’s like because we have all been there. It’s exhausting. It’s confining. It’s SO important. I think the older we get the more we realize that the most important things in life ARE the little things. It’s the relationships we have and the way we treat and love those people. It’s the small kindnesses and caring that we dispense every day that really make a difference in the world. I love this quote:  The way we mother our children is SO important. You may feel like you are doing nothing for the betterment of the world because you are stuck at home all day wiping...

Loneliness and motherhood... Loneliness in any area of life can be a stunting, oppressive, and painful thing and Motherhood can feel pretty lonely at times. One month after I got married (in Spring), I quit my job to stay home with the kids. I knew it was exactly where I was supposed to be, it was exactly where I wanted to be, but it still was lonely and hard at times. That summer, my husband and I thoroughly discussed schooling options (our longest "discussion"/argument to date). We ended up deciding that I would homeschool our girls come Fall. In Fall we started our homeschooling journey. We joined a co-op that ran like a parent-led private school. It was nice to be around people but the twinge of loneliness still lingered as deep friendships weren't really there. Two years later we left the co-op to homeschool from home ( a wonderful decision)! One week into being home with the kids and I was dying of loneliness and going stir crazy. I'M AN EXTROVERT!!!!...

What is the first thing you do in the morning?  Personally, I lay and pretend to still be asleep so I can have a little uninterrupted prayer time. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. The next thing I do is sling my legs over the side of the bed, reach for the hair tie that is on my bedside dresser, and twist my hair up into a bun. Not a stylish “messy bun”, but a real mom bun. My hair is long and thick, but that’s not really why I want it up in a bun. I know that, as soon as I use the bathroom, I’ll be heading to the kitchen to prepare breakfast and do dishes, but that isn’t really the main reason I put it up in a bun, either. I was trying to explain it to my hubby why I automatically want to put my hair up when I am facing a challenge or chore, and the best I could think of was telling him that it was the female version of “girding up your loins”.  This is a phrase from ancient days. As the photo describes, it is was men do when they are going into...

I have a fear of cooking for people. I love having people over to my house but I stress over the fact that I might let someone down with the food I make. I've actually let this fear limit me significantly.  I've been slowly gaining confidence. It's not that I'm a bad cook. My food is never burnt and it always tastes good... but, long ago, I had a negative response to my food, by my family and got teased/harassed about it for years after. It killed my willingness to share my food because I let the negative input steal my confidence.  I'm getting past my fear now and stepping out, choosing to cook for others. I'm growing my confidence again. However, it's amazing how repeated negative input can have such a stunting effect on growth. How it can keep us from things it shouldn't. How much power it has.. My nine-year old has something against her math flash cards. My math-savvy one! She is quick witted and great at school but she will not memori...

Hey dear Mama, I'm rooting you on. Every step of the way. In the high and the low I know you have what it takes! I'm here to cheer you on when your feeling discouraged... But I am discouraged too... I started this blog for you , to encourage you in the highs and the lows, and boy, there's a lot of them on this motherhood journey. I started this blog because it was a way to do what I'm passionate about (encouraging and connecting with you) in the current season I am with little ones. I started this to be here for you, because I believe in you . My dear friend Lee joined in to do the very same thing and it's been such an awesome blessing getting to write to you... but the highs and the lows come. The discouragement comes. I've tried so many different ways to get this blog to more Moms, to encourage more.  Resting at the bottom of straight up hill while hiking.  Pregnant at the time, tired, and I made it up!! (I did have help) I've been off...

Joy has decided to be really real and open about herself, and it has challenged me to do the same. So here goes… It’s dusk on a Thursday evening. I am sitting in my darkened living room and crying. I’m bawling my eyes out. Why? Well… Sitting here like this, cross-legged on the couch, doesn’t hurt so bad. My normal pain is just a dull ache. That’s a nice thing. But I also have a very dirty kitchen that needs cleaned. I have a family that needs to be fed. I have laundry that needs to be sorted and put away before we can leave for our trip to visit family tomorrow. And I know that if I get up and do all these things, I will be hurting. So I am crying because I know that standing up and doing these chores is going to hurt. And I am crying because I feel selfish. I know that my family needs me to do these things, but I just don’t want to do them because I don’t want to hurt. And I’m crying because it feels like it’s been this way for far too long. I’m not ...