Simplify

When Andrew was about Jenna's age I decided that it was time to get back to work and ministry. The first few years of The Brothers lives went by in a haze for me and suddenly they were both in preschool and I had two days a week to do something for myself. Frankly, I can't remember what I did!

Fast forward to last May when I once again felt like I could take on some professional activities now that Jenna was about to go to Mother's Day Out twice a week. I agreed to do some music therapy assessments in the fall for a local school district. But it was May, right, so I thought I would start a couple of other new things, too.

And now? I have too many things I am trying to do and I need to streamline! Currently on my professional roster, in order of appearance, I am a Creative Memories/Ahni & Zoe consultant, a Legacy Republic Independent Consultant, a Music Together instructor, a Young Living distributor, and a music therapist. Too much.

In searching for life significance in activities other than serving my family, church, and community, I have made a crazy busy life for myself. As a result of that I feel like I do a lot of things with mediocrity and little with excellence. Rather than being a good steward of the little things with which God has entrusted me, I have sought out bigger things and don't have enough time and energy for the really important things - marriage and family.

And admittedly, my personal relationship with Jesus Christ and time spent in fellowship with God have also gone to the wayside. There is just so much to do, and I push my quiet time back later and later in the day until the day disappears.

In my circle of friends many of us decide to choose one word to live by in the new year. I think my word for 2015 will be "Simplify." I want to simplify my home, and simplify my life so that I can do the things I believe God has called me to do and say goodbye to things that are good and healthy and not for me to do.

I am starting with the book "Clutter free: Quick and easy steps to simplifying your space," by Kathi Lipp. I heard Kathi speak at my local MOPS group last spring and decided we should be best friends. Perhaps not in real life, but at least virtually. The thing I love about this book so far is that it's not just another organizational system. I have tried organizational systems. They work for me for awhile and then it just gets overwhelming because I have too much stuff and too many irons on the fire. This is a book about getting rid of stuff. I feel like if I have less clutter in my life that I can concentrate on the things that really matter.

So, here I go. Simplify. Starting to blog again is not simplifying, it's adding another thing to my to-do list. However, accountability is important and if I am not vocal about what I am doing, I know I'm likely to not do it. I will simplify, I promise, but it is going to be a work in progress! My hope is to chronicle it here, but if that doesn't work I will have to let it go.

Aren't you glad my theme is "Simplify" and not "Let it GO." Oh yes, she went there.

You are blessed.

Seasons.

I know I'm in the right profession when Mondays are my favorite day of the week. We're not very busy, it's just baby and me, and I get to putter. I don't do much puttering, usually. 

Once I had a young person suggest to me that I must not get much exercise being at home all day.

Let's let that sink in a little. Wait . . .

Yeah, no. We have a two story house and a lot of laundry. I have a toddler who loves me more than all else. Elmo comes close, but Elmo can't carry her around, especially not up and down stairs, which I do probably 15-20 times a day. I'm not out running a marathon, but I'm moving around for sure.

The other days of the week I go up and down the stairs trying to get kids ready to get out the door. Then I have to make sure I'm actually dressed, have combed my hair and brushed my teeth, and am not wearing my house slippers. We go to MOPS, music class, swimming, the gym, the grocery store, the bus stop, soccer, meetings, and other kid-friendly places. 

It's a good life, but "stay-at-home-mom" is a misnomer. Except Mondays. Well, we go to swimming, but that's later in the morning so it doesn't feel like such a rush.

My profession right now is a stay-at-home-mom. A chicken-with-its-head-cut-off-mom, maybe. (Cluck.) But it's my season and it's a good one.

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 9-13

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

9-13 What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil - this is the gift of God.

Thank you, God.

Stuck.

Back when we were adopting, I used to blog all the time. It was a good opportunity for me to process my feelings about adoption and include others in the exciting process. Then Little Brother happened. Suddenly I had one foot in the infertility and adoption world and one foot in the pregnant and parenting world. I stopped blogging.

Granted, the time I had to write significantly decreased when evenings went from beginning at dinner time and ending at 10:00 to beginning at 9:00 after the kids are all in bed and we have actually eaten dinner too. But also, I was afraid.

I was afraid that I would suddenly appear to have forgotten how it felt to experience infertility. I was afraid that my new experiences would hurt others. I started a new parenting blog but didn't keep that up because of the aforementioned time constraints. And then life just felt too busy. I know everyone is busy and many people more so than I. But it is what it is and that's my excuse.

I recently read a book by Kathi Lipp called The me project: 21 days to living the life you've always wanted. I've read the book but haven't put the daily projects into place. The gist of the book is that we are uniquely created by God for a purpose. Figuring out what that is takes our cooperation. Kathi sets out 21 projects to move toward doing so including journaling, finding a mentor, and spending time in prayer with God about His plan and purpose for my life.

Some of the things I have thought I want to do, outside of parenting,  include writing, speaking, encouraging, music making, and improving my amateur photography. I think that's possibly too many to take on all at once for my first project.

I'm not sure where The Me Project will take me, but there is one thing I have already discovered that is pretty cool. I think I am already living the life God designed for me. I don't do it perfectly, I could do it better in some areas if I were more x, y, or z, and it's not a perfect life. No one's is. But when I think about the ways I spend my time, excepting the time I sometimes spend mindlessly, I get a little buzz. I think that's the Holy Spirit saying, "Keep doing what you're doing."

This is the life.

Best Day Ever

(Oh look - it hasn't been a year since my last post. I'm on a roll.)

It's all fun and games until the putting green that promises a free drink to whoever gets a hole in one.

These guys had been cooped up a little too tightly over spring break and I wanted to have a fun day with them. So on a whim, Friday afternoon I thought, "Mini golf!" The lines were long, it being spring break and all, but that was okay. The weather was great, not too hot but warm enough for our various clothing choices. (They can dress themselves - isn't that something?)

Not to leave any insignificant thing undone, we decided to play the whole 18 holes even though things started to deteriorate around hole ten. The last eight holes were spent frowning and pouting each time the ball missed the elusive hole, alternating with the repeated question, "Please can I get a drink?" (And I must say that, as always, I had no money and was going to need to borrow it from our friend Doris.)

By the time we got to the end of the course and the boys were really spun up about not getting a sugary putt-putt golf soda, I decided we need a photo of our fun ten holes (and lousy eight holes) of golf time at Embassy Golf.

"Smile everyone," she said hopefully.

I could have cajoled and pushed to get some fake smiles, but then I decided just to have our friend take an authentic picture of how it all really went down. Their frowns and pouting are real and mine is a put-on, but I think this photo is an honest look at what family fun looks like sometimes.

I am having more fun reminiscing about this photo and honestly giggling about the boys' looks than I would have with a fake smiley photo. Real life.

"Blessed are they, that can laugh at themselves, for they will never cease to be amused."  -Ritu Ghatourey