Joy in the Journey

Last week I talked about how important it is to connect with others during this lonely and isolating time of Shelter in Place. I spoke about connecting with those outside your home. On Tuesday I spoke about making special MOMents with each child. Now I want to talk about how important it is connect with all of those inside our home, together.  We've been given a gift. A silver lining to this cloud that is hanging over our country. That gift is more time for families to be together.  I know your schedules have been changed, and not much is normal for you right now.  That is hard. But I want to encourage you to take advantage of the extra free time you have together as a family.  We are planning movie nights and game nights, tea parties and YouTube art classes. We are BBQing more and making fun desserts (sugar-free but yum!). We are worshipping together on Sunday mornings and listening to an audiobook together every evening.  ...

People are inspiring! I've said it many times before, love spreads  and people fill me with inspiration . Recently, I saw a beautiful, multicolored chalk encouragement in my neighbors' driveway. "Thank you doctors and nurses" it said, each letter a different vibrant color. I thought that was AWESOME and felt inspired to pass on that encouragement... and more! So I bought a box of sidewalk chalk and picked a day, "Fun Friday", to do that as our activity of the day.  We started at Fred Meyer with my daughters, my toddler, and our dog... To write on the sidewalk next to a BUSY street. I hadn't thought this out well... I left my eldest in the van with the dog and toddler while my middle child and I hit the sidewalk. We quickly sketched out the words in big, block letters "DON'T GIVE UP", "YOU ARE LOVED", "KEEP HOPE", and my daughter added at the end "GOD HAS YOU". It was thrilling. It was enjoyable,...

Quite a few months ago I heard an idea that was rather freeing for me. I was listening to a podcast and the speaker was a lady with a large family. She was talking about how one of the biggest arguments that people have against large families is: "You wont have enough attention for each child and your children will grow up feeling they were ignored." The speaker was countering this argument by saying that you don't need to constantly be stressing about giving each child their daily allotment of attention and making sure it is all equal. Instead, what you should be on the lookout for is creating special moments with each child. MOMents. I love this idea! It felt like it was a huge stress reliever, like an expectation that was way too big and guilt-inducing was just lifted off my shoulders. Checking off a box of spending a certain amount of time with each child was overwhelming; making sure I sneak in special MOMents with each child, that was something I could do. I thi...

I've been getting a lot of sun lately. We've been having beautiful Spring weather here in Western Oregon. The day starts out cool as the sun rises and then gets to a nice 65-70 Fahrenheit in the early afternoon and evening. However, the real reason I've been getting out every day... To stay sane in Lockdown. Besides seeing people from a distance, nothing makes me feel better than getting out with my kids. Going to the lake, on a hike, to a creek, or about anywhere that I can be outside. Enjoying the sunshine and not  feeling alone for a little while! To keep my spirits up during this time of social distancing we've been going outside every sunny day. (I seriously need to invest in a big hat because despite my sunscreen my forehead is showing sun damage ). Did you know that sunshine is not just good for your mental health but your physical as well? You might be hearing the buzz lately about Vitamin D boosts your immune system (something we all want right now), an...

My heart was broken a little today. It was an unexpected encounter with a women that left me feeling sad, hypocritical, and humbled. We went to the edge of a park today (the playground is closed but while social distancing people use the other areas) for our "Sunshine Time" in which we played, did school, and had lunch.  Before we left the park we drove up to the park parking lot to empty our trash next to the outhouses before our dog drug it all over our van. I instantly noticed a women in a bright pink bikini near the potties... The very next thing I noticed was that she had VERY large, VERY obviously fake boobs... Photo Credit: Jonathan Myers www.walesonline.co.uk I instantly was put off and felt uncomfortable all at the same time. She said "Hi" to my kids as they dumped our trash into the park's trash can. My kids acted awkward too... As I looked on from my car, I made more observation about this women. She looked like she had a hard life and t...

The other day I was sitting on the couch and the baby started to doze. I looked down at him and sighed.  I should really get him to bed so I can get the dishes done... But I didn't feel like carrying him all the way down the hallway (which would probably hurt). I didn't feel like fighting to get him to sleep in his own bed (sometimes it takes several attempts to lay him down). And then doing the dishes would probably hurt, too. I just wanted to sit there and hold him and do nothing for a while. So I did. I held him during his whole nap, just thinking and praying and having quiet conversations with my other kids.  Have you ever read any of the Psalms or the book of Habakkuk from the Bible? Many of them have breaks in them that say "Selah". A lot of people believe this word means to pause and reflect. This word is used 74 times in the Bible. I see a lot of people getting a lot of projects done during this quarantine. Which is awesome...

I found myself mom comparing lately. :( Never a good thing.  I was watching other mom's "Fun Mom Moments" with their kids and comparing mine with theirs. I felt less than. Have I got less fun the more kids I've had? Am I not doing as good of job? The questions always come.  I used  to curl up and watch a movie with my kids in bed... I used  to play a lot more with my kids at the park... I used to  do so many things...  Then it came to me. I just have different Fun Mom Moments with my kids. I don't do a lot of fun crafty activities anymore because of my little one. I don't usually play with my kids at the park, I'm usually overseeing the baby's safety. I often say "No" to playing a card game, seeing their latest invention, or doing something that feels "extra" at the time. Some of reasons for this "less fun mom" is I need a break and then I'd be happy to do those things with my kids. However, a lot of it i...