Dear Christians,
Yes, this is another blog about red cups. But listen. I get your frustration. I really do. However, I have a few thoughts on this subject that may help you.
1. As said many times before, Starbucks has never claimed to be a Christian company. We live in America and they have every right to NOT put something on their products they do not believe in. Just as Chick-fil-a has every right to talk about Jesus because they DO.
2. Jesus does not force himself on anyone. If that were true we would not be having this conversation. Eve would not have eaten the forbidden fruit and our world would not be what it is now.
3.Being mean spirited and boycotting and whatever else just spurs hate. It does nothing productive. Why don't you go and tip that barista a healthy tip and ask her if there is anything you can pray with her for? Maybe this would be the first time she has been introduced to the Savior. We cannot be afraid to be in the world by avoiding it. Please read Roaring Lambs by Robert Briner.
4. If we knew every product/organization/store that stood against Christianity we would probably suck our thumb rocking in a corner. We have to be the light. What are we really afraid of? That reaching out to these people means we agree with them? By buying their products somehow will send us to hell? Do I have to answer this?
5. Now, I know that for some of us this is really an issue. We feel conviction by where we KNOWINGLY put our hard earned dollars. I am one of you. Quite honestly this Starbucks thing does not bother me. I have family that works for them and you have to look at the bigger picture.( Just like our President says this is no longer a Christian nation but, I tell you what he says does not speak for the majority.) Anyway, my point is: speak with your dollars. Not just this issue but, bigger ones. Put your money where your mouth is. Stop supporting companies that do not align with your values if it bothers you that much. The problem is we keep feeding the machine. Nobody wants to sacrifice. " I want my coffee and it has to be Starbucks and they need to feed me Christian ego!"STOP THROWING A TANTRUM AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT THAT WILL MAKE REAL IMPACT AND NOT MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER. I am not saying that we shouldn't voice, let's just do it in a different way (not by seething hate). I have personally stopped shopping at certain stores or at least cut back my spending at them. Target being one of them (WAHH!!!) again, sacrifice and doing the right things hurts. Victoria's Secret, they employ slaves without shame. I try to intentionally buy from places that I can, that are fair trade. RESALE is a good option. ( LOVE) You are taking care of this great planet that God has given us by not feeding into the pollution of consumerism. There is a lot to be said on this whole subject. It is definitely a lifestyle change but, one I humbly do.
6. Starbucks is fine but, if I go OUT for coffee ( I would rather brew my own fair trade organic at home. Don't tell me that you can't afford that. You just spent $7 on Starbucks.) I like to go to locally owned places. My little town has a great shop that sells great coffee. It goes back into my community and they use the local coffee manufacturers. Win-Win.
7. Why are you going out for coffee THAT much anyway? People are dying. babies are being slaughtered, children are hungry, souls are lost. Put all that money in a fund for a couple of days to buy a family oversees a goat to help support themselves. That is being a true activist.
I love you church. We are better than this. Our hearts long for justice. Let's be His hands and feet in the most positive way. Darkness has to come so we can shine the brightest. So, go get your Starbucks cup. Enjoy it. Nobody is drawn to condemnation and oppression. Let your joy radiate. That is your best witness. And tell your barista she is loved.
10,000 lifetimes together
Hubby and Me
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Monday, October 27, 2014
Just Bein' Real
My heart has been heavy tonight. I just had a frustrating past couple of days where nothing seems to be working right. You know where some things are just like, "It shouldn't be this hard". UGH...
The most frustrating thing for me is when I build up in my mind expectations on things I do that don't turn out the way I imagined. I feel inadequate. I feel spent. I feel like a big fat failure.
I came home tonight after one of those days. What did me in was the American Heritage Girls meeting. It just was crazy chaos. I wonder, "Are we making a difference? Is this impacting them?".
Then I come home to my kids being a hot mess. Tired, hungry and I am stressed out.
All I want to do is run into the arms of Jesus. I just need to be at His feet and pour out my heart. This is new burden. Not about me. It is a burden of ministry which is different and new to me. I am not familiar with this. It is urgent in my spirit. I know this is the path you have given me, but I feel like it isn't working. I cannot get my kids to bed fast enough.
I get on Facebook (why) and almost get sidetracked. No, not tonight, I am not falling into your time warp this time. Kari Jobe, take me to the throne.
Oh... I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to be in the room with Jesus when you are feeling this way. I am reminded there is NOTHING that I can do. I can not do it all. As always He leads me to stillness and affirmation. I am His and He is mine. I can do all things through Him.
I can do nothing without His leading. I forget the most important thing and get wrapped up so much in "doing" that I just need to "be". If I have this down He can work freely through me. Love the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind. Everything will work together. Then the other, loving people, will come naturally. This is the scripture God lead me to tonight:
The most frustrating thing for me is when I build up in my mind expectations on things I do that don't turn out the way I imagined. I feel inadequate. I feel spent. I feel like a big fat failure.
I came home tonight after one of those days. What did me in was the American Heritage Girls meeting. It just was crazy chaos. I wonder, "Are we making a difference? Is this impacting them?".
Then I come home to my kids being a hot mess. Tired, hungry and I am stressed out.
All I want to do is run into the arms of Jesus. I just need to be at His feet and pour out my heart. This is new burden. Not about me. It is a burden of ministry which is different and new to me. I am not familiar with this. It is urgent in my spirit. I know this is the path you have given me, but I feel like it isn't working. I cannot get my kids to bed fast enough.
I get on Facebook (why) and almost get sidetracked. No, not tonight, I am not falling into your time warp this time. Kari Jobe, take me to the throne.
Oh... I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to be in the room with Jesus when you are feeling this way. I am reminded there is NOTHING that I can do. I can not do it all. As always He leads me to stillness and affirmation. I am His and He is mine. I can do all things through Him.
I can do nothing without His leading. I forget the most important thing and get wrapped up so much in "doing" that I just need to "be". If I have this down He can work freely through me. Love the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind. Everything will work together. Then the other, loving people, will come naturally. This is the scripture God lead me to tonight:
Psalm 32:8New Living Translation (NLT)
8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
I will advise you and watch over you.
Yes.
Psalm 32:9New Living Translation (NLT)
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
Forgive me Lord.
I will remember that this ministry is not mine. It is yours. You are always with me, guiding me, I just need to be in constant communication with you. Please allow your Spirit to draw me and take control. I surrender. I will no longer try to do things on my own. I know this. I do things I don't want to, and I don't know why. I am human and I am in a fallen world. You have lead me to this moment. To this ministry. I will not be like a mule. I will have bad days but, I will remember. You never said it would be easy. You are in control.
Psalm 33:21New Living Translation (NLT)
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
for we trust in his holy name.
I am so crazy. Over and over I forget this. He constantly confirms this to me. How patient He is. So constant.
Thank you for always being the Perfect Father to me. I know I will "forget" this again. Thanks in advance for reminding me.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
The Way I See It...
There have been many things in the news lately that have bothered me, to the point I lay awake in bed at night. No, it is not about Ebola. I do not usually touch hot topics because, sometimes it is just a waste of time. I always think of Paul ( see Matthew 10:14). Also, some things affect people I love dearly and I don't want to go down that road again. However, what really is bothering me are not necessarily the subjects, rather the thought process that involves them. I am nervous putting this out there but, as my good friend says " You cannot trespass yourself". The reason I made this blog was to use it as my therapy, a way to sort the things out in my head. We'll see if I hit the "post" button.
The issue in Houston has really bothered me. Not because of the topic that is causing it, it is the rights that are being taken away. The problem in America and, the world for that matter, is we have allowed the government too much say in our lives. So, let me get this right, we give homosexuals rights but then take others away because they don't agree? This is absolutely wrong. You want to tell pastors to hand over sermons, make them marry people against their own personal convictions or throw them in jail.Hmm. Stalin anyone? Isn't this hypocritical on so many levels? First of all, if you are gay why would you want to go to a church or have a minister marry you if they did not feel the same way you do? Isn't this masochistic? Do we not realize that do the same thing to each other that we accuse the other side of?
The problem is what we think is "right". There is a difference between fair and just. Someone told me about an illustration they once seen. There was a line of kids standing on top of chairs. They were all the same height but, some had boxes. The little ones had more boxes. The ones that had less boxes complained about not having as many boxes under them, Had this been done, they would have been taller. Get my point?
Another is my kids, they always complain, "That is not fair!". No, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes one of them wants a dessert because everyone else does. Well, she would get one had she ate any of her dinner. I heard one time of a mother got tired of this too.She had her kids make a cake. they all got to put in the equal amounts of ingredients because, that was what was "fair". You can guess how the cake turned out.
The movie, The Incredibles, is also a good illustration. Dash, is a fast runner because he is a superhero. His parents do not let him use his talent when he races in school because it would not be "fair". So what? We all have different talents and beliefs we are not all the same, Thank God for it. We all should have the freedom to be able to use those talents and express ourselves without "offending" someone. I teach this to my children. I want them to learn how to deal with opposition, adversity and failure.I cannot stand the sense of entitlement in this society. People will not agree with you, someone else will be better then you sometimes. That doesn't take away from the fact that you have many other things to offer. You can still show integrity in opposition. You can still love people when you disagree, right where they are.
The little town I live in is having a similar problem. They want to take down the nativity and cross placed on city property that has been there for years at certain times of they year. A group would like them to stop it or allow them to put up atheist symbols and the gay flag at certain times of the year. Fine! I say let them do it. As long as everyone is given the right to celebrate their freedom, what is the problem? Why would Houston take such a drastic un-civilized approach? Look, put up your flag. It will not bother me to the point that I have to riot. I am secure in my faith and confident in who I am. I have a problem when you force your beliefs upon me, yes. Don't take away my rights to live the way I want. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord(Joshua 24:15).We would love for you to join us but, He won't make you. If you don't He loves you and we love you anyway. God gave us free will and He is not a master manipulator either (see Genesis 2:17). He didn't put up an electric fence around the tree, He didn't even hide it.
From a Christian perspective, I think the reason the "church" has been so quiet before about issues like this is, we do have such a strong Faith and we know that our fight is not of flesh and bone (see Ephesians 6:12). We take everything to God in prayer (Phillipians 4:6) which is most important, however, the Bible says "Faith without works is dead"(James 2:17). We are secure in God and we trust Him, I know that is why I do not waste my time worrying about this"stuff" and I let Him handle it in prayer. My dearies, she (the church) is awake and she is roaring now. The Bible says that, "there is a time for everything" though (Eccl.3). It is time to not be silent and stand for what is just.
This is why I am so upset about the situation in Houston .If you don't like it don't go to their churches. If you believe in pro-choice fine, Don't make a doctor who doesn't, loose his license because it goes against his personal belief system. Find someone who will. Let's quit bullying each other into making everyone see eye to eye. It will not happen. It's called diversity. What would it be like if we were all robots and agreed on everything? Isn't this like relationship 101? I thought we learned that in Preschool.
The issue in Houston has really bothered me. Not because of the topic that is causing it, it is the rights that are being taken away. The problem in America and, the world for that matter, is we have allowed the government too much say in our lives. So, let me get this right, we give homosexuals rights but then take others away because they don't agree? This is absolutely wrong. You want to tell pastors to hand over sermons, make them marry people against their own personal convictions or throw them in jail.Hmm. Stalin anyone? Isn't this hypocritical on so many levels? First of all, if you are gay why would you want to go to a church or have a minister marry you if they did not feel the same way you do? Isn't this masochistic? Do we not realize that do the same thing to each other that we accuse the other side of?
The problem is what we think is "right". There is a difference between fair and just. Someone told me about an illustration they once seen. There was a line of kids standing on top of chairs. They were all the same height but, some had boxes. The little ones had more boxes. The ones that had less boxes complained about not having as many boxes under them, Had this been done, they would have been taller. Get my point?
Another is my kids, they always complain, "That is not fair!". No, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes one of them wants a dessert because everyone else does. Well, she would get one had she ate any of her dinner. I heard one time of a mother got tired of this too.She had her kids make a cake. they all got to put in the equal amounts of ingredients because, that was what was "fair". You can guess how the cake turned out.
The movie, The Incredibles, is also a good illustration. Dash, is a fast runner because he is a superhero. His parents do not let him use his talent when he races in school because it would not be "fair". So what? We all have different talents and beliefs we are not all the same, Thank God for it. We all should have the freedom to be able to use those talents and express ourselves without "offending" someone. I teach this to my children. I want them to learn how to deal with opposition, adversity and failure.I cannot stand the sense of entitlement in this society. People will not agree with you, someone else will be better then you sometimes. That doesn't take away from the fact that you have many other things to offer. You can still show integrity in opposition. You can still love people when you disagree, right where they are.
The little town I live in is having a similar problem. They want to take down the nativity and cross placed on city property that has been there for years at certain times of they year. A group would like them to stop it or allow them to put up atheist symbols and the gay flag at certain times of the year. Fine! I say let them do it. As long as everyone is given the right to celebrate their freedom, what is the problem? Why would Houston take such a drastic un-civilized approach? Look, put up your flag. It will not bother me to the point that I have to riot. I am secure in my faith and confident in who I am. I have a problem when you force your beliefs upon me, yes. Don't take away my rights to live the way I want. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord(Joshua 24:15).We would love for you to join us but, He won't make you. If you don't He loves you and we love you anyway. God gave us free will and He is not a master manipulator either (see Genesis 2:17). He didn't put up an electric fence around the tree, He didn't even hide it.
From a Christian perspective, I think the reason the "church" has been so quiet before about issues like this is, we do have such a strong Faith and we know that our fight is not of flesh and bone (see Ephesians 6:12). We take everything to God in prayer (Phillipians 4:6) which is most important, however, the Bible says "Faith without works is dead"(James 2:17). We are secure in God and we trust Him, I know that is why I do not waste my time worrying about this"stuff" and I let Him handle it in prayer. My dearies, she (the church) is awake and she is roaring now. The Bible says that, "there is a time for everything" though (Eccl.3). It is time to not be silent and stand for what is just.
This is why I am so upset about the situation in Houston .If you don't like it don't go to their churches. If you believe in pro-choice fine, Don't make a doctor who doesn't, loose his license because it goes against his personal belief system. Find someone who will. Let's quit bullying each other into making everyone see eye to eye. It will not happen. It's called diversity. What would it be like if we were all robots and agreed on everything? Isn't this like relationship 101? I thought we learned that in Preschool.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Canning and Grandma
I have been thinking about my Grandma a lot lately because I am canning. My girls and I went to the Farmer's Market and I bought *sigh* a bushel of tomatoes. I was not going to can this year because we moved and downsized. All my canning stuff is in storage. But, I knew that if I didn't I would regret it. So alas, we bought the bushel of seconds at $12! (that was why my mind was changed as well, $12?!) It was Saturday that I bought them, it was a beautiful September day. Warm and sunny with the hint of Fall in the air.
I remember Grandma talking about how she loved this kind of weather. It made her think of when her kids would be in school and she could do all the things she loved without interruption. Like putting quilt tops together and canning. My Grandma always would wear some sort of a cotton or denim button down shirt in the Summer. I remember seeing tomato stains and seeds on the hem. Her crooked hands as she packed peaches into cans. These are the little things that I remember and hold dear to my heart. I have become more and more like her the older I get. I have found my share of denim button down shirts. I make a mess too when I can. I follow her suit and plan mopping my floors around my canning schedule. I find myself enjoying the weather right now and doing my hobbies while my girls are in school.
I love doing the things she taught me and when I do I feel "home" wherever I am at. Now this little place that we call home really feels like "home". I have tomato spilled on my floor and jars all over my house. I love the warm feeling of tomatoes simmering on the stove with steam on the windows. Taking the lid off the pot with the aroma takes me back to her kitchen as a little girl.
Grandma always preferred the wide mouth jars. I'm not really sure why. I guess I do not have a preference. I have both, all were hers of course. I had to buy both today, knowing I was going to run into more of those than regular mouth. I also found a new product by Ball. Lids for jars to make drinking cups with straws. Yes please! I use Ball jars in my house as drinking glasses anyway. Come to think of it they are all wide mouth.=)
Grandma's vintage jar grabber=)
I remember Grandma talking about how she loved this kind of weather. It made her think of when her kids would be in school and she could do all the things she loved without interruption. Like putting quilt tops together and canning. My Grandma always would wear some sort of a cotton or denim button down shirt in the Summer. I remember seeing tomato stains and seeds on the hem. Her crooked hands as she packed peaches into cans. These are the little things that I remember and hold dear to my heart. I have become more and more like her the older I get. I have found my share of denim button down shirts. I make a mess too when I can. I follow her suit and plan mopping my floors around my canning schedule. I find myself enjoying the weather right now and doing my hobbies while my girls are in school.
Grandma always preferred the wide mouth jars. I'm not really sure why. I guess I do not have a preference. I have both, all were hers of course. I had to buy both today, knowing I was going to run into more of those than regular mouth. I also found a new product by Ball. Lids for jars to make drinking cups with straws. Yes please! I use Ball jars in my house as drinking glasses anyway. Come to think of it they are all wide mouth.=)
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
So, I have been thinking a lot about Christmas and what it means to my children. This year I have gotten just about nauseated by the commercialization of it. Then I go down into the play room and see all of the toys that they don't really play with.
I heard one time that a mom only allowed her kids three presents. when they asked why she said, "Jesus only got three, you think your better than Him?". So I am adopting this idea. Of course, they get one gift from Santa and their stockings =). However, I think that is enough. It is not about how much or what they get. I am DONE with it all. I would much rather spend my time and money on teaching my girls to give of our money and time to people who are much less fortunate then we are. I would rather bake cookies, watch Hallmark, and make funky macaroni ornaments with them. And, you know what, it is FREEING! I cannot tell you how much of a stress relief it is! I am not worried about how much I am spending, how to make it stretch, or is it "enough"? (rolls eyes)
I feel like I can enjoy the holidays and spend more of my resources doing it. So with all that money not being spent on silly things, we can send money to our World Vision child to have a Christmas that she has never known. Make cookies for our neighbors. Carol at the nursing home. Volunteer at the food truck. Hey, maybe even go on that Santa Train that we never want to spend the money on because, it could be used on presents. Making memories and enjoying the season without my mind and energy somewhere else. You know what, the more you talk about it with your kids ( the younger they are helps too), they will get it. My girls and I have talked about it and they are so okay with it. It is not a big deal to them because, they would rather drink cocoa and play board games anyway.
What do you think? Are you tired of dreading Christmas? Are you sick of all the nonsense? I dare you to take the three present challenge.=)
I heard one time that a mom only allowed her kids three presents. when they asked why she said, "Jesus only got three, you think your better than Him?". So I am adopting this idea. Of course, they get one gift from Santa and their stockings =). However, I think that is enough. It is not about how much or what they get. I am DONE with it all. I would much rather spend my time and money on teaching my girls to give of our money and time to people who are much less fortunate then we are. I would rather bake cookies, watch Hallmark, and make funky macaroni ornaments with them. And, you know what, it is FREEING! I cannot tell you how much of a stress relief it is! I am not worried about how much I am spending, how to make it stretch, or is it "enough"? (rolls eyes)
I feel like I can enjoy the holidays and spend more of my resources doing it. So with all that money not being spent on silly things, we can send money to our World Vision child to have a Christmas that she has never known. Make cookies for our neighbors. Carol at the nursing home. Volunteer at the food truck. Hey, maybe even go on that Santa Train that we never want to spend the money on because, it could be used on presents. Making memories and enjoying the season without my mind and energy somewhere else. You know what, the more you talk about it with your kids ( the younger they are helps too), they will get it. My girls and I have talked about it and they are so okay with it. It is not a big deal to them because, they would rather drink cocoa and play board games anyway.
What do you think? Are you tired of dreading Christmas? Are you sick of all the nonsense? I dare you to take the three present challenge.=)
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Life Without Hubby
Ok, so my husband is working out of town for the next month only coming home for like a day. Now I am so thankful (not that I wasn't) for him. My car didn't start from a dead battery the morning he left. My dryer almost started on fire two days later. Please that is a whole 'notha blog. Then my brake line broke on my car while I was driving it. I felt like there where extreme forces at work here. The only thing I can think of is that God was allowing these things to happen for a reason. If anything at all it was to appreciate him more.
I am not one of these women who like being in the same category as a man. Not that I am below him or above him. Just different. I was not created to bear all of this on my own. Neither is he. We are a team. I believe no more than he wants to be the one to deal with the three drama queens of the house by himself.
I think women who have to parent alone are heroes. Kudos to you my girls because, I cannot imagine. My kids are beautiful and I love them but, they are a handful. Sometimes I need a break. Sometimes it's nice to have someone else pick up the slack. We were not meant to handle life alone. God Himself wanted to have a relationship with humanity. Same for the men who do it on there own. Sometimes guys just can't handle things the way a woman can. This is OK. Boys and girls are different and I think that we need to stop trying to put them in the same box. Instinctively genders have their own tendencies. Now please, do not misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with a little boy loving on a baby doll or crying. A girl can (and my daughters will) change her own tire if she has too. There is a balance. I think if given the choice, a girl would rather(with some exception) have a man around to do all of these things, just like a guy would probably rather not go shopping for window treatments. I may be coming across as old fashioned, my point is that if a girl doesn't want to have to change the oil in her car it doesn't mean that she is not a strong woman or intellectually beneath a man. Our bodies are different, we are wired different and we problem solve differently.
So my point is, just because I miss my husband when he is gone, because sometimes I get scared to be alone, doesn't make me any lesser of a woman.
I am not one of these women who like being in the same category as a man. Not that I am below him or above him. Just different. I was not created to bear all of this on my own. Neither is he. We are a team. I believe no more than he wants to be the one to deal with the three drama queens of the house by himself.
I think women who have to parent alone are heroes. Kudos to you my girls because, I cannot imagine. My kids are beautiful and I love them but, they are a handful. Sometimes I need a break. Sometimes it's nice to have someone else pick up the slack. We were not meant to handle life alone. God Himself wanted to have a relationship with humanity. Same for the men who do it on there own. Sometimes guys just can't handle things the way a woman can. This is OK. Boys and girls are different and I think that we need to stop trying to put them in the same box. Instinctively genders have their own tendencies. Now please, do not misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with a little boy loving on a baby doll or crying. A girl can (and my daughters will) change her own tire if she has too. There is a balance. I think if given the choice, a girl would rather(with some exception) have a man around to do all of these things, just like a guy would probably rather not go shopping for window treatments. I may be coming across as old fashioned, my point is that if a girl doesn't want to have to change the oil in her car it doesn't mean that she is not a strong woman or intellectually beneath a man. Our bodies are different, we are wired different and we problem solve differently.
So my point is, just because I miss my husband when he is gone, because sometimes I get scared to be alone, doesn't make me any lesser of a woman.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Blogging and Such
I have been thinking about blogging for a while now. Mostly because in my mind it is a cheat way to have some record of my life for my children because I never have time to scrapbook. I have always had these aspirations to journal and chronicle every detail of our life. I envision one day sitting down curled up with a blanket with my children and grandchildren looking through all of the time consuming, painstakingly detailed accounts of every memorable quote and outing. Reality check. And while I write this I am thinking to myself, "Wouldn't it take just as much time doing it then taking the time to blog?" There is something about speaking to the masses about what everyone else is already thinking that is terribly satisfying (even though I get too ADD to sit through and read front to back my kids newsletter because I am always frazzled with time, I always say I will read it later when I have some. I never make it, I get what's left over which most of the time is is the middle of the week. And even then I feel guilty because I haven't read it so, now I do because I am a bad Mother.)
I often find myself searching on the web for certain recipes or project help, and come across blogs of my fellow colleague Mommies. I do get annoyed sometimes at how picture "Family Fun" perfect their lives seem to be. Am I really the only one who still hasn't scrapbooked their second child photos (which by the way I SWORE I would NEVER do). Don't even get me started on how they have entire organizational systems for storing these articles for a very short term time. How can I keep up when I feel like I can't hardly get my girls artwork and pictures downstairs into the craft room before they graduate. And you want me to find the time to label and file boxes to just later chronicle in the somewhat same fashion again?
And please do not get me started on Pinterest. Don't get me wrong, I love it. But, it is just one more social networking/mommy duty/homemaker thing that I feel like I have to do.
So really, I am on a mission with this blogging thing, to find out what is realistic, as a reasonable human being when it comes to things like this. Trying to find a good balance on all of the things that we as mothers, wives and women feel that we HAVE to do. Why we feel the need to measure ourselves up to other women, society, parenting magazines, etc. and how we should be or what we should do or, how we should feel for that matter. If I were this woman I would never sleep! I usually just find myself feeling frustrated and discouraged with it all that I don't do anything.
My biggest struggle right now is balance. Do I really need to have a business to not loose myself , to keep from loosing my identity? Is it okay for my whole world to be my family? Is this what I really want? Do I need to finish school to feel accomplished? The most important thing is raising my girls the best I can and giving them my all. Is this enough or too much? Are all of my philanthropy ventures self defeating if it is taking time away from my priorities? Should I wait to focus on these things until my children are grown? I often envy Mothers who (they are out there) don't care about such things.
These are questions that are constant in my day to day life. Am I doing this right? And to top it all off I have to find time to sit back and take it all in and enjoy these "golden years" because in a wink my girls will be gone and I will have missed it. Plus, I feel the need to relax, self reflect, journal, soul search as if I was 16. Because this is what all the "Oprah" experts say I should be doing. I ain't got time for that.
I am caught between being a young, cool mom and, one who is intentional, consistent and involved with her children. Fighting for their right to have a childhood. The best one, with every opportunity. Running through the woods, crazy happy, childhood.
They are our world. If your like me the only reason you think these things like, not loosing yourself and having your own identity is because, you want to set that example for them. We would not want our children to think this way, would we? Is it more than just setting an example for them? Do we need to feel that way because, it is truth? These are the questions that I am on a mission for answers for. Is it okay to not do and, take advantage of every opportunity offered us in life and day to day living. I do not have to feel guilty about missing the playdate at the library (right?).
Help me God to know that not every second of the day has to be productive. That I can sit down to play with my little girl and ENJOY it. Not because that is what you do, or how you SHOULD feel or, feel pressure to do. Because I just do.
I often find myself searching on the web for certain recipes or project help, and come across blogs of my fellow colleague Mommies. I do get annoyed sometimes at how picture "Family Fun" perfect their lives seem to be. Am I really the only one who still hasn't scrapbooked their second child photos (which by the way I SWORE I would NEVER do). Don't even get me started on how they have entire organizational systems for storing these articles for a very short term time. How can I keep up when I feel like I can't hardly get my girls artwork and pictures downstairs into the craft room before they graduate. And you want me to find the time to label and file boxes to just later chronicle in the somewhat same fashion again?
And please do not get me started on Pinterest. Don't get me wrong, I love it. But, it is just one more social networking/mommy duty/homemaker thing that I feel like I have to do.
So really, I am on a mission with this blogging thing, to find out what is realistic, as a reasonable human being when it comes to things like this. Trying to find a good balance on all of the things that we as mothers, wives and women feel that we HAVE to do. Why we feel the need to measure ourselves up to other women, society, parenting magazines, etc. and how we should be or what we should do or, how we should feel for that matter. If I were this woman I would never sleep! I usually just find myself feeling frustrated and discouraged with it all that I don't do anything.
My biggest struggle right now is balance. Do I really need to have a business to not loose myself , to keep from loosing my identity? Is it okay for my whole world to be my family? Is this what I really want? Do I need to finish school to feel accomplished? The most important thing is raising my girls the best I can and giving them my all. Is this enough or too much? Are all of my philanthropy ventures self defeating if it is taking time away from my priorities? Should I wait to focus on these things until my children are grown? I often envy Mothers who (they are out there) don't care about such things.
These are questions that are constant in my day to day life. Am I doing this right? And to top it all off I have to find time to sit back and take it all in and enjoy these "golden years" because in a wink my girls will be gone and I will have missed it. Plus, I feel the need to relax, self reflect, journal, soul search as if I was 16. Because this is what all the "Oprah" experts say I should be doing. I ain't got time for that.
I am caught between being a young, cool mom and, one who is intentional, consistent and involved with her children. Fighting for their right to have a childhood. The best one, with every opportunity. Running through the woods, crazy happy, childhood.
They are our world. If your like me the only reason you think these things like, not loosing yourself and having your own identity is because, you want to set that example for them. We would not want our children to think this way, would we? Is it more than just setting an example for them? Do we need to feel that way because, it is truth? These are the questions that I am on a mission for answers for. Is it okay to not do and, take advantage of every opportunity offered us in life and day to day living. I do not have to feel guilty about missing the playdate at the library (right?).
Help me God to know that not every second of the day has to be productive. That I can sit down to play with my little girl and ENJOY it. Not because that is what you do, or how you SHOULD feel or, feel pressure to do. Because I just do.
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