Steady Mom

your week in review (is up to you)

My week in review:

sniffles
coughs
whines
tantrums
broken things
bills to pay
bickering
shouts
squabbles
sleeplessness

OR

sprouting seeds
glorious sun
a busy daughter creating books
God's full provision
an incredible home to live in
homemade, healthy food on the table
afternoon naps
flexible work I love
books & resources that fuel our education
years together to learn important life lessons

What we choose to highlight from our week is up to us. What we seek we'll find--be it the negative or the positive. The choice is ours.

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what were you thinking?!!

It was so warm last week we actually went to the beach!

Have you ever asked your kids this question? Have you ever wanted to?

I don't understand the logic of children--choices that seem to make perfect sense to them make no sense to me at times.

This frustrates me when things get broken (which seems to happen a lot around here) and when behaviors are far from pleasant.

Here's what is aiding my efforts to be compassionate to my children in these times:

Remembering that I used to do the same things. Specifically, I can recall two (there are undoubtedly more, but these come immediately to mind) really stupid things I did as a child:

- As a young teenager - One night at youth group, some other kids and I took turns running and jumping onto our youth leader's futon...for fun. (Jumping on furniture, as a teenager?! Yes, really.) It just so happened that on one of my jumps one of the futon's wooden parts cracked right down the middle.

- As an older teenager - My mom had given me her class ring from high school. I was so proud of it and loved it, as I had gone to the same high school.

I wore it to the beach one day with friends, and didn't know that you shouldn't wear jewelry into the sea. (How could I not know that?) You can guess where my ring ended up...at the bottom of the ocean.

I walked back to the shore, sobbing, wondering what my mom would say. I called her from the beach, still in tears, and told her.

Do you know what she said?

"Jamie, it's just a ring."

Talk about compassionate grace.

So when we wonder what our kids are thinking, let's try to remember that there were days when we wonder what exactly we were thinking, too.

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5 ways to nurture your creative spirit

Spring "nests" we made out of chocolate, rice chex, and Cadbury mini-eggs

1. Believe that it's important.

We have to get to the place where we value our energy and caring for ourselves enough to make creativity a priority.

2. Make time for it.

If it is a priority, it will happen.

I recently committed to read one chapter of fiction each day as a minimum because this spurs my capacity for creative thought in other areas. I'm promising myself that I will do this first thing when the kids start their rest time each day--I'm making a specific time for it. Otherwise, it may not happen.

3. Head to your kitchen.

When I got married I knew next to nothing about cooking. I hated spending time in the kitchen--mainly because I didn't know what I was doing in there.

My kids opened the way for me to find creativity in the food we ate because I was so passionately determined to feed my family well. Since moms spend so much time feeding our family anyway, we might as well find a way to express our creativity in the kitchen.

4. Think outside the creative box.

Like point number 2, being creative doesn't mean that you have to be a painter. We create because we are made in the image of a Creator!

And that demands a response in some way, be it journaling, baking, problem solving for your kids, and more. The beauty of allowing creative expression is the example it sets for our children.

5. Start small.

We don't expect our kids to create masterpieces the first time they sit down with fingerpaints, do we? Yet we often have such high expectations of ourselves.

I was reminded of this point recently when reading my friend Renee's new e-book, Nurturing Creativity: A Guide for Busy Moms. Here's what she has to say about starting small:

"This is a book about nurturing creativity in your life as a busy mom. And for many of us this starts small. With small projects, small amounts of time, and even small levels of skill. This is where you start, but it's not where you stay.

The goal is not to go big or go home. The goal is to grow creatively, to express the Divine beauty and creative gifts you have been given. And in doing so, to bless and serve others." 

If you're looking for practical tips about developing your creative spirit, I highly recommend Renee's e-book. For me it was inspirational, and at only $3, it's quite a bargain!

So go forth, mama, and create today in those ways only you can. Watch yourself, and your family, be blessed in the process.

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living the hard/easy life

Over the weekend, Steve and I brainstormed about our goals for the next 15 years. That sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Yet we're at a place in life, with jobs we love and tasks we know we're called to, that we can consider the next 15 years in terms of core values and overall plans.

During this talk I came up with a new term: the hard/easy life.

When you reach a certain place along the road of motherhood or life in general, in some ways it's easy to set goals. You start to see where you want to go. You start to dream--for yourself, for your family.

In our case, we know we want to homeschool, we know the jobs we're meant to have, we know where and how we want to live. And we always ask for, and receive, specific guidance from God about what direction to pursue. Then we go after it in confidence.

That's the easy.

But then comes the hard. Once you've made a decision, you have to do it. And keep doing it. Day in, day out. When you can't see any progress, when you forget why, when you lack funds, when you lack connections. When your son spends 30 minutes throwing Legos instead of playing with them. (Ahem, that was just this morning.)

When the easy comes, it's exciting. You know where you want to head and you have faith that somehow, someway you can get there. Then comes the hard, and wow can it be tough. I tend to want to run and find an expert who can tell me what to do, when really I know what I should do. I should keep going, and be my own expert.

Living hard/easy. The journey has plenty of ups and downs, but the way is clear--just keep moving forward.

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