Embrace your season
By MelodyGross | Category: Pursuing God, The Journey of Motherhood
Having three babies in under four years, meant that for quite a long while my season in life was steady, constant and well defined. Make babies. Give birth to babies. Take care of babies. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
When we set out on our parenting journey we were very set on the idea of 2 children. Then we had our first baby. We were completely smitten and knew two just wouldn’t be enough for us. Twenty months later we welcomed our second child. And even in the moments immediately following her birth, I knew I wanted to do it all over again. And just over two years later we welcomed our third little one.
Once we decided that we definitely wanted more than two children, we never landed on a definite number that we were working towards. We always felt like we’d just kinda know when it was time to be done. And let me just say, adding in baby #3, rocked.my.world. And for the first time since I began havin’ babies, I started thinking that I wanted to be done. In fact, my first words following his birth were, ” I never have to do this ever again!” It took me about 18 months to regain my footing, but once again that all too familiar longing for a sweet new babe slowly began to return.
It’s been 2.5 years since the birth of my youngest, and I find myself smack dab in the middle of a very different season. My maternity clothes have found their way to the attic. My baby wearing gear is no longer needed. And diapers are a thing of the past…can’t say that I’m too sad about that one : ) We haven’t officially decided that we are ‘done’, but given our previous track record, it sure does feel like it. My husband and I are in agreement that we’d love to have another baby someday, but we are both very confident that this just isn’t the right time. And yet, for the past year I’ve been secretly hoping that God would chose to bestow us with a little, unexpected blessing.
And I’ve found myself in this land of limbo. Hoping that maybe just maybe ‘this’ would happen even though it wasn’t in our plans. But I’ve recently realized that in that hoping, I’ve been holding tightly to my past season, and fighting to embrace my current season. And I know that a large part of that is the fact that my present season is just.plain.hard. I feel lost and unprepared. My confidence is greatly shaken. But having babies? That’s old hat for me. I’ve got that season down. Let’s go back there.
I recently had a moment of revelation while shopping at a local thrift store. Isn’t it funny the way God chooses to speak to us sometimes? I was quickly thumbing through some summer dresses, when I stopped on the most adorable maternity sun dress. I paused and held the dress in my hand, and for just a moment I let myself ‘go there’. And ever so softly, I heard a whisper in my heart, You’ve got to let that season go. Tears sprung to my eyes, and I knew there was deep truth rooted in those words.
From that simple little moment in the thrift store, I became inspired to stop looking back and start moving forward, even if it hurts. That meant getting rid of all those maternity clothes and baby clothes I had been holding onto ‘just in case’. It also meant embracing my current season, even though it’s not where I want to be. And currently that looks like: finding ways to deal with the stress, grabbing onto every resource that I am led to, and being real and open about my struggles.
I want to encourage you today. Whatever season you are in… Embrace it. Own it. Live it. And ask God to bless it…I’m pretty sure he will : )
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
Melody Gross is a Jesus lovin’ wife and mama. Her days are filled with chasing after her rambunctious brood of little people. She blogs about their wild and crazy antics at They Call Me Mama.
Posted Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Artwork worth framing!
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Home Crafts, Kids Crafts, The Journey of Motherhood
I have been meaning to have my kids do some artwork that I could frame for quite sometime. I finally decided this would be the week, no more putting it off.
My initial plan had been to let the kids use finger paint to create a painting on scrapbooking paper (or any paper that is acid free so that it won’t yellow over time) and then to let it dry and frame it for the wall. However the homemade finger paint that I attempted to use was too thick I came up with a “plan B”. I went to Target and purchased a frame with a mat. I opened up the frame, removed the mat and allowed them to paint it any way that they wanted to with their crayola paints. It was fun to see how great they both turned out even though they were so different!
We allowed the mat to dry and then I marked it with their name and date. Then I chose a recent photo of them and placed it in the mat and put it back in the frame. The end result turned out really awesome. I love that I have both a personal art piece but I also see how old they were at the time that they created it! I decided that they turned out so well that I purchased another frame for them to paint as a gift for my moms birthday. An idea like this could also be fun as a class gift to a teacher (each child could add a few fingerprints or brushstrokes) with the class photo enclosed. If you have additional ideas, please share and feel free to pin this post on Pinterest!
Posted Monday, May 14, 2012
dusty
By mom4life | Category: Pursuing God, Sawyer's Story
Yesterday Jackie beautifully reminded me that I am but dust. When I think about it, I can’t help but agree with her words. However, when I think about dust in my home, on my hands, in my nose, all I want to do is get rid of it, clean it up, blow it away.
Yet that is not what God does, he seems to like it.
God can create things out of dust. Adam for instance was crafted out dust (Genesis 2:7). The pinacle of all creation came from what I try to keep out of my home.
God can heal using dust. A blind man was gifted sight when Jesus applied a mud mask to his eyes (John 9:6).
God can convict hearts in the dust. After drawing in the ground, Pharisees dropped their stones and left the woman caught in adultery standing with no one left to convict her (John 8:6).
I recently heard the song “Beautiful Things” by Gungor for the first time (if you are on my blog now you can click over on the playlist in the lower right to song #1 to hear it). The lyrics go like this:
All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at allYou make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of usAll around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in YouYou make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of usYou make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new
You are making me newMy life is dusty. Today I am reflecting and remembering. Four years ago today our fourth child Sawyer was born still into our lives and just as silently it often feels that he was swept away like dust. Yet in true fashion God redeems, he restores, he rebuilds.
For those who love God, a groundbreaking promise is made: “All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.”
This verse has been my mantra all year. I continue to remind myself of his promise when I am discouraged, when I am sad, when I am angry or frustrated. I lift my dirty hands to the sky and ask the Lord to do what he has already said he will do: create something beautiful from the dust.
Do you love God? Are you called according to his purpose? On this day as I reflect on the promise of God, I invite you to enter into it. I welcome you to stand in the dusty chaos with the full assurance of a promise that a garden is being planted that will yield good things, beautiful things. I encourage you to call out to Jesus and ask him to be YOUR God.
He will make you new.
Posted Thursday, May 10, 2012
A dusty, dusty day.
By JackieMccobb | Category: Pursuing God, The Journey of Motherhood
I am a firm believer that we were all created uniquely and as such we have have a special story to share with others. Our newest contributing blogger, Jackie McCobb, is no exception. While she could easily be the mom that you connect to at your local MOPS group, her local group of moms is practically a world away from us here in the United States. In fact she has been exploring the world since she was 8 months old with her missionary parents! Traveling experiences are just one of the things that drew me to Jackie (did you know I have visited every continent except Australia and Antartica?) I am fascinated to hear what life is like for a mother living in another country. I believe Jackie’s broad bank of experiences and love for Jesus will be deposited directly into our hearts and we will all be the richer for it.
Hola! My name is Jackie McCobb and my family and I live in the wonderful country of Paraguay. We are church planting missionaries and have lived here for 6 years. We absolutely love it! I have three sweet little girls, each one born in a different country, we have moved around a lot. I have many stories to tell about all of my globe-trotting (I grew up in the Amazon jungle of Venezuela, for example) so hang around and let’s get to know each other.
I’ve been wracking my brain all day trying to thing about what to write here for my first post. Heather, who is a sweet as pie, told me I could write whatever I wanted. Should I write about how to be frugal in South America? (Hint: It includes eating a lot of bean recipes.) Should I write about the challenges and joys of homeschooling overseas? Should I write about the books I’m currently reading? I couldn’t decide.
I finally decided to be very real with you all.
Today was looooong and icky. It was not my finest day as a mother.
My children ate chocolate boxed cereal for breakfast, chocolate bunnies for snack, ice cream, lemon bars, and lollipops.
I overcooked the spaghetti for dinner.
We barely made it through school with the first grader and when the preschooler excitedly asked to do her school I quickly shut her down and sent her out of the room.
The toddler was grumpy, I spent way too much time on Facebook, did not read my Bible today and finally, finally got a shower.
The children watched about five Pixar movies.
The pile of dishes in the sink is huge and it’s gonna stay that way.
I was feeling pretty down about myself. I know better than this. Why did I let myself sleep in? Days seem to go horribly wrong when I sleep in. Why don’t I make time to exercise? No wonder I’m pouting! Why don’t I make and freeze a bunch of muffins so I’m not feeding my kids sugar for breakfast? And on and on and on…and then I remembered why.
I’m dust.
Psalm 103:14 says “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
God gets it. He knows why I fall flat on my face every day. I’m dust.
How is this so comforting? I’ll tell you why…we don’t expect much to happen with dust and dirt. It’s messy and can sometimes be quite a pain.
But isn’t comforting when we remember that God knows this? He is not expecting BIG things from us. He is not expecting perfection. He knows me. He knows I’m just dust.But dust and dirt can help things grow. And in all of my messiness today, God in His mercy and grace took it, transformed it and helped my children grow.Tomorrow is another day and it may be just as “dusty,” but I will keep trying to do my best, not because I could ever be good enough, but because He is good.I will end with this with a true story a missionary friend told me.A missionary family had just arrived in the USA from their foreign field of work. They were attending their first church meeting and were so excited because it would be in English! The four year old son of the missionary was sitting next to his mother quietly. The pastor of the church got up to pray and said, “Lord, we thank you for your Holiness. We thank you for saving us. We are so grateful to know that You remember that we are but dust….” and at that the four year old son of the missionary said, in a very loud voice, “Mommy…WHAT is BUTT DUST???”
Ah, missionary kids. You gotta love ‘em!
Posted Wednesday, May 9, 2012
DIY: curtain rod art wall
By mom4life | Category: Creating a Home, Organize Me!
Children’s art work is one of those things that most families with young children have plenty of. it is finding creative ways to display, preserve and not get buried under it that can be a challenge. A few years ago I created an art wall in our home to display the projects that my kids would bring home from school. This art wall has worked perfectly. I love how easy it is to use, the way it proudly displays their work and the way it looks in our home. The downside is that our children have now outgrown it. Meaning, we have more art work than room to display it. Plus our two youngest kids are soon going to be of an age to start creating their own artwork so this situation is not going to go away anytime soon (thankfully). So it was time to come up with a second art wall option. I wanted something that would allow me to change out the art easily and as frequently as I wanted. I wanted something that would flow well with the look of our home and something that was inexpensive.
Here is what I came up with:
-Take a curtain rod and mount it to the wall.
-Use curtain clips on the rod to suspend the artwork.
The beauty of this plan was that not only was it easy to do but I was able to repurpose an unused curtain rod and clips from my garage!
Before:
After:
I know there are a pletora of wonderful ideas for storing kid’s artwork. If you have a favorite idea I would love for you to share in the comments or on our facebook page! if you liked this idea, consider pinning this post on Pinterest!
For some more ideas:
7 steps to organizing your children’s art
4 steps to creating an art wall in your home
How we remember and repurpose children’s artwork from Simple Organic
