Tuesday, January 26, 2016

What we are reading, watching, talking about....

The kids and I love, from late October to mid-March, to snuggle up and dig into books, get lost in awesome movies, and have deep talks.  Here have been some of our recent favorites....

Frindle by Andrew Clements
Clementine series by Sara Pennypacker
Narnia Series (audio)
Missionary Stories with the Millers by Mildred A. Martin
The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem
My youngest and I are also working our way through the entire Magic Treehouse series together

Max Lucado's A Christmas Candle
Crown for Christmas
A Bishop's Wife
Norman Rockwell presents Christmas Tail
Oh Christmas Tree
The Egg and I & Ma and Pa Kettle

My kids are always asking questions....I mean it seriously never stops.  Some are soul stumping: 'why, after I pray and pray, does God not make things better?'...some are curious: 'why does the flamingoes knee/leg bend both ways?'....some are funny: 'Mom were you alive when George Washington was?'....and some are eye opening: 'What are you feeling right now because your face looks grumpy'.  

At the end of the day I am rung out, so so tired.  My introverted self seriously craves alone time, time to think and time to get lost in a book.  But as I sat down the other day to finish crossing off the dots in my bullet journal, I realized that as I have grown older I have lost that curiosity that comes so naturally to kids.  But I want it back, I want to stop now and ask 'what's working/what's not', 'what's God doing in my life, in my marriage, in my relationships', I want to ask my kids the same things and truly listen to their answer.  Not listen with the intent to reply, but listen with the intent to connect and understand their hearts.  We have them for such a short time, I don't want to waste the gift...




Saturday, January 2, 2016

Happy New Year

2015 was a hard, difficult year that twisted and turned through valley after valley...it was a year of hard things.  I have begun to absolutely dread the question: 'how are things'.  I want to be able to say oooooh fabulous.  We have money in the bank, health that overflows in abundance, we just went to Disney world, and will be serving as a family on the mission field this summer....but that's not my truth right now.  My truth is that it's hard.  In truth in 2015 instead of fighting for joy, I felt pummeled by the circumstances, defeated by the thought that it seems to just keep getting harder, and I haven't consistently felt the peace that I so desperately want to feel.  I know I am not alone, others around me are just as battered and bruised by life, many a lot more than I am.  So what's their secret?  Why and how do they draw in closer to God?  How do they tap into His peace?  They see Him as their greater truth.  I want that.

2016 dawned bright and beautiful. The circumstances didn't magically change when the clock struck midnight, but I want to. In 2016, I want my heart to be softer to Him, more patient and compassionate with those around me...even when dealing with the same issues over and over and over.  I want to be generous even if I have little to give, I want to find joy in every single moment, especially the hard and ugly ones.  And I want to be able to say, 'things are hard, but He is so, so good.'