In Septemeber

Yesterday I picked up a large pumpkin from Aldi, had a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, and laid out all the ingredients to bake pumpkin bread. October begins tomorrow. Fall is here and with it a reminder to reflect upon our many blessings.

In September...

I was thankful for:

1. A day to grill out a delicious meal instead of just slapping something on the table in a mad rush to get the kids somewhere

2. A moment where my girls chose to help one another with schoolwork instead of fighting one another over nail polish ownership

3. Being delighted with the number of women who showed up at a Bible study I offered on loving our people well.

4. When our fridge broke..remembering to be grateful that we normally have a fridge that works. I normally have cream in my coffee that doesn't curdle. When our dryer broke, remembering to be thankful that we normally have soft fluffy towels. When our washer broke...trying to remember that I don't have to scrub our clothes in a river... When our van broke...remembering to be grateful that we could still put food on the table and get it repaired.

5. My daughter deciding to give her limited time and abundant talents to serving at church and school

 

6. Waking up on a rare Saturday morning feeling well-rested, ready to conquer the day- happy to be at home in our house- happy that A is a great Dad who wants to take our kids on dates

7. Thankful for Will's baptism- deep-rooted peace that all five of our children will have roots in knowing the Savior - asking for wisdom is learning how to lead each of them in their discipleship journeys

 

8. Enjoying A's company beside me on a soggy bleacher during our son's baseball game

9. Resting in God's sovereign goodness that we will be ok whatever is decided about our future at work

10. A blissful moment when kids were lost in the reading of good books sipping green smoothies. Hearing a song progress with repeated violin-piano-guitar practice. Feeling happy that they are really gaining some skills.

11. Being able to help my self-directed girl in an hour of need. Being there to give a hand at crunch time.

12. A Sunday School games night that coaxed the quiet ones out of their shells. Discovering that quiet ones can be hysterically funny. A delicious marinated chicken recipe shared.

13. Spending a rainy day at the lake with lifelong family friends. Guys huddled inside watching a ball game. Kids splashing in the puddles. The women processing life together. Teenagers texting people as they sit beside other friends.

 

 

14. Shared laughter in our Sunday School class. Feeling community grow.

15. Brothers and sisters shopping for small birthday gifts for one another. A moment (however fleeting) of thinking of others.

16. Dressing up for salads at California Dreaming in honor of a friend's birthday. Being able to meet my mom for Asian food another day for lunch.

 

 

17. Daughters that count it a privilege to sleep in my room when my man is away on business. Mother-daughter sleepovers, "Taylor the latte boy" sing-alongs, and stencil projects

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXS0nEOx_20&sns=em

 

18. A son that says "thank you for loving me" and squeezes my hand when getting out of the car before going into school. A moment of appreciation for birthday surprises.

 

Being happy that I bought birthday doughnuts for B's breakfast when I saw the "healthy kid birthday muffin" acceptable at school

 

19. A once-a-year tailgate at a high school football game with friends.

 

 

20. Thankful to be able to give our son a paintball-milkshake outing with friends for his birthday

 

 

21. Thankful to be able to hand down phones to our daughters. Thankful to be able to communicate with them in all our many different directions.

L's new best friend, Mr. Verizon guy

22. A chance to eat Zoe's Greek chicken salads with my girls after church

23. An early morning hour to light a candle and renew my soul with Jesus when I am so exhausted

24. Being able to share contemplative ideas with a friend during bleacher time at a ball game- happy to see an orchestra section added to our contemporary worship service

25. Playful wrestling moments, thinking of you texts, or journal entries, however brief, that help us stay connected during this crazy busy life with kids phase of our marriage

 

26. Trying to come to terms with the different personalities and levels of motivation in our family. Praying for wisdom in how to parent those with different interests well.

27. Walking around the zoo together as a family- Doing something interactive with our children when the norm is becoming each kid going off in his own direction or into her own room

28. A circle of praying girlfriends who weep together and share collective advice on heartbreak and parenting fails

29. Finally finding a time and date to meet a young friend for coffee ( on national coffee day ) and hear about her sweet first year of marriage. Resolving to act more like a new bride than a co-carpool driver in year fifteen.

30. My husband opening his arms to invite me to waltz on the front lawn before dawn..and even though it always bumbles and turns silly, I cherish those few moments of twirling connection

 

 

Moments of Relief

There are moments in parenthood when my kids do and say the right things and my heart sighs a little sigh of relief. "They are getting it!"

Taking the kids to Target to buy small gifts to surprise their brother on his birthday. Seeing them for a few moments focus and spend, not on themselves, but to delight another.

An older child who reaches out to take my hand and says "Thank you for loving me." I could just weep in gratitude, that somewhere in all the lessons of "brush your teeth it's time for bed", true connection is growing, true values are forming, even if they are not lived out perfectly every day.

Beth Moore teaches about the perfect love of The Lord. Teleios. Complete and mature love. Love that has reached its goal. (Romans 5:5) It is a relief to remember that everyone knows that my mama love is not yet mature, complete, or perfect. I blow it. In my efforts to keep everyone in line and growing to their optimal potentials, I over-direct sometimes, when perhaps it would be better to let some things go.

I pray that my love would grow "more and more in knowledge and all discernment" (Philippians 1:9-10). May I remember to ask for insight into my people, and not just plow ahead getting things done and taking care of business. (Or not taking care of business, as evidenced by the mildewy smelling clothes I forgot to move to the dryer last night.)

Jen Hatmaker shares her thoughts on the true goal of parenting in this MOPS video on making disciples.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=etl98WL8aC8

 

 

 

 

Creativity Flow

 

 

I am hiding from the world these days in tiny pockets of time. I am saying "no" to urgent requests for help with this and that. I am sequestered away in hopes of creating a nest where creative juices may flow.

Every once in a while I wake up bursting to create something. To experience something new. To learn something. To surround myself with something beautiful. To accomplish. Not so much for getting a gold star, or receiving much recognition, but stemming from a place inside that needs to grow. Most days these bursts of creative energy are lost in the stream of necessary things that must be done. But every once in a rare while, perhaps when the moon is full, the children are in school, and my husband is away, I can hide from the world and see if anything interesting comes to me. Sometimes words just type themselves on a page and I think "Where did that come from?" Other times my computer screen is blank for weeks on end and I can't muster up a single interesting thought. Mysterious, those creative juices. Part talent. Part circumstance. Part gift from beyond myself.

A deadline is approaching. I am supposed to be choreographing this year's Singing Christmas Tree. So, naturally, I am blogging about the experience of not choreographing instead! It would be helpful to have the pieces finished, or at least outlined before the dancers actually show up to work. So far, I've been listening, and daydreaming, and thinking, and watching other people's work. I have a few scribbles in a notebook, but not many steps actually matched to music. This is where the doubt part of the creative process creeps in. "Why did I ever agree to take this on? What if I can't deliver? What if this year is a big flop and it's mostly my fault?" These are the thoughts of September.

 

 

(Love this image from a fellow creative type, found on Pinterest)

My fifth grade son inquired about my recent late-night viewing of various dance genres. "How are you going to cite all of that?" he asked. I was happy that he was concerned about intellectual property and giving credit where credit is due. Well-done, fifth grade teachers. He's getting it. It is harder to explain to a ten-year-old boy about searching for inspiration. Our Christmas angels are inspired by Alvin Ailey and Balanchine and Irish river dancers, but our works will not be theirs. I just need to "get in the zone" of watching beautiful, creative things in order to figure out what our creativity will look like.

 

 

The problem with being a creative sort is that there is always something that you would like to learn but haven't had the chance to get around to yet: brushing up on the French you learned in high school, finally learning Spanish, picking up Irish step-dancing or flamenco, learning the art of fencing, traveling to Australia. The world is your oyster, but you still have to go to Kroger and figure out what is for dinner. Seven hungry people are waiting for you to figure this problem out, and are not as deeply concerned about the creative puzzle in front of you. You are supposed to be choreographing steps to specific songs, but your mind on creative overdrive is wondering if they have fencing classes at the local park and when the new barre studio is going to open in Columbia.

 

When not actually creating anything, I enjoy reading about creativity. Perhaps you'll find this article interesting too.

18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently:

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/creativity-habits_n_4859769.html

 

Lake Day with Good Friends

We count ourselves blessed to be able to share a Saturday in the company of good friends. Friends of a lifetime. Friends that we minister alongside one another. Friends that we raise our children together. Buckets of rain (lightning storms and torrential downpours) could not throw cold water on this gathering.

 

 

Porch time with soul sisters

Grilling.

Kayaking.

Swimming.

 

Processing life together.

Playing together.

Laughing.

Teasing one another (especially over the subject of the first kid of the bunch to have a girlfriend).

Lounging.

Cheering the Gamecocks as they beat Georgia.

All this togetherness is too much for the quieter ones. The introverts slink off to their personal corners and cry out "I need personal space!" I see them later crouching near electrical outlets in the dim rooms lit only by soft electronic glows, happy as clams. I wonder if intervention from professional guidance is needed, but decide to leave them be, and later are happy to see them gradually emerge from their caves of darkness to rejoin the family units and the nosy "aunties" and "uncles" of church family. We'll be there when they need us.

Weathering the storms together.

 

 

 

 

The Prodigal Hamster Returns

I think it is fair to say that any child who has experienced a beloved pet gone missing can understand the story of the Prodigal Son told in Luke 15:11-32.

Natalia's hamster went out gallivanting one evening. Alarmed and distraught, my daughter turned the place upside down looking for her pet. We prayed, looked, teased, and left the door open in hope of her return...and she did! Answered prayer is a very real thing. I love how God speaks so personally in ways that matter to us.

 

Naughty hamster gnaws through N's comforter making her own bedding

 

 

Thoughtful N leaves a trail of provisions in case the hamster should return to her senses

 

 

Leaving the light on and the door open in hope

 

Safe and sound

 

I was lost, but now I'm found

 

Testing the message "melts in your mouth, not in your hands" at midnight and 5 am.

When "Shouting it out" isn't helping the gooey red mud left on brand new baseball pants- first game was after a monsoon

 

For Jan Jan

Here it is, Janice, as recommended, a blogpost (mostly) about Andy.

Not only is our minivan middle aged, but we are middle aged, and our marriage is middle-aged. Fifteen years next month. In order to keep the wonder in front of my carpool-distracted eyes, I have decided to try to make myself a list of all the reasons I love my man...in journal-entry form...

Like a gratitude journal focused on the gift of a person.

After coaxing little-bit in youtube instructional videos on football positions, she went from "This is boring, just a bunch of guys attacking each other" to shedding tears when she didn't get to stay until the end of the game.

Our kitchen, the science lab

The goal