Joy in the Journey

  It's Spring! Along with yard work and starting seeds and salmon fishing, that means birthdays to me. My birthday is the second day of spring and my daughter was born 11 years ago on the first day of spring. So it is a very fun (albeit exhausting) time of year! This year we had her party on her birthday. She wanted a Dragon Day Festival from The Wingfeather Saga  by Andrew Peterson (SUCH good books!). We had a blast planning the event together and I think everyone had fun at the party.  There was a lot of baking involved to prepare for the party, so I was pretty beat the next day. My hernias were a bit achy and my injured foot was sore, but I was content and had a very happy kid.  I shared last year about my new take on "my" special days , and I've continued living with that mindset. And boy has it paid off! In case you didn't read the post last year, I basically decided that I would not spend the special days that celebrate my life (like my birthdays and Mother...

Recently our homeschool co-op had an event where mamas who have travelled got to share about their adventures with the children in our group. It was so fun to hear about my friends' trips and experiences; some of them really put a lot of thought into their presentations. Me? I found the disc with my photos from my trip to Germany two nights before the event, stayed up til 2 am printing and sorting them, and then spent every free moment the next day throwing a scrapbook together. I also added a few souvenirs to my table. My trip to Germany happened almost 20 years ago, so it was a lot of fun to get lost in those memories as I went through those old photos. The trip had been a high school graduation present from my grandparents and was mostly geared toward visiting my Oma's family and former home. She was born and raised in Germany. Most of the family I was introduced to during that trip has since passed away, so it was very special that I got a chance to meet them. We didn't...

"Ladies, every single room I walk into right now makes me want to cry. There is soooo much that needs to be done!" I wrote that a few weeks ago, when I started writing this post, but got no further. I was feeling very overwhelmed. It's pretty understandable that I would be. Besides all the everyday things that need to be done by a mama of six, I also have so many things piled up because of years of chronic pain. The pain often only allowed me to get the very basic things done (and sometimes not even those things!). And now that my pain is much lower than it has been, I have a real sense of urgency to make as much progress as possible. Especially since I don’t know if my pain will be coming back or how intense it will be if it returns (if you remember, I had about a four month period of reduced pain after I had my toddler).  I know that a few weeks ago I preached at you about focusing on the big picture, but today I’m going to talk to you about the importance of having tun...

 Hey mamas! In this post I’m going to take you back, way back…to Sunday school.  Because if you have ever gone to Sunday School or even VBS, you have probably heard about the armor of God. It’s something that little kids memorize to earn prizes at church events but I don’t feel like it’s something that grown ups talk about enough. And I find it is really essential for helping me get through the day as a mama!  Recently I saw this on Facebook and I really loved it: Now, in case you've never heard of the Armor of God or you need a little refresher, here is an illustration based on Ephesians 6:10-20: Mamas, you are not just an army grunt. You are not at the bottom of the totem pole, you are not expendable. You have been placed in authority over little souls. You are in command, which means you are going to come under fire. Satan knows that if he is victorious when attacking you, he's going to hurt your whole realm of influence, specifically, your children. That is why it is ...

 Who are you? That is a big question... I want you to think about these two questions carefully: What image comes to your mind when you think about yourself? What words are formed in your brain when you think about yourself? Stop and think about your answers, don't read on yet. For me, there are some not-so-pretty answers. Ok, they are often downright ugly. Did thinking about it bring up hurtful words that were spoken about you in your past? Criticisms that have been made about your character or actions? Do you automatically think about the things that you don't like about yourself? When my husband was a child, his grandfather (who was the only related male that was present in his life, so carried a large amount of influence) used to call him a "20-pound-weakling".  For years, that is what my husband thought of himself, he didn't believe he had any strength. The comment had been made about his physique, but it cut much deeper than that. It challenged the idea that...

 Confession time: I’ve been acting like a big baby. You probably already know that though, you’ve been reading my blogs. Don't get me wrong, I have been going through a legit hard time, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with confessing that and talking about it. Quite the contrary, if I was stuffing my feelings and pretending everything was fine and hiding my struggles, I would have even bigger problems. Let me explain what I mean by saying that I've been a big baby: I've had tunnel vision. I currently have a 4-month-old, a 2.5-year-old, and a 13-year-old, and they all having something in common: they aren't seeing the big picture. If I set my 4-month-old down so I can grab the nursing cover so I can feed him, he thinks that by putting him down I am never going to feed him. His brain hasn't developed enough to understand that I'm his mama and of course I'm going to take care of him, I'm actually working towards that goal by putting him down. He only...

    My baby is now four months old… And I am so thankful! If you know me well, you know that I do not keep on having children because I love the newborn stage… I actually really, really, have a hard time with the newborn stage! Don’t get me wrong, I love the cuddling…to an extent. I love to nurture my babies through breastfeeding. I think they are so cute when they are tiny…But man, are they needy! And my babies tend to be “Mama only” babies, which means they just want me. All. The. Time. My current baby has been one of my most needy. He has spent the past four months ONLY sleeping when in my arms or laying next to me. Whenever I would try to lay him down or roll away from beside him or pass him off to another family member, he would wake. Every time! It is really hard when someone wants to be connected to you 24/7. Needless to say, I’ve felt extremely overstimulated and overwhelmed and exhausted.  But I think we are finally baby stepping past this. It started around 2 mo...