Results Matter but Don’t Define: Why I Write

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Something hit me as I slept last night.

If I am blogging for fan mail and Facebook likes, or for Twitter retweets and Pinterest awards, I would’ve quit months ago.

I’ve stared at my stats page before, wondering why I spend the time to write and post, write and post. Do my words matter to others? Should I continue to hope for more followers, comments and future inspiring post material?

I watched a movie yesterday that had completely nothing to do with writing, but yet may go down in my history book as monumental. It was the story of gymnast Gabby Douglas.

Gabby came from a single parent, single income family. Her mom funneled all they had, and even some of what they didn’t have into providing her daughter the tools and time to pursue her dream of becoming an Olympic gymnast. At the age of 12, Gabby studied the athletes as they performed at the Olympics through the screen of her television.

As we watched the coach, she decidedly declared, “He will be my coach one day. I want to go to the Olympics.”

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I Can’t Believe Who’s Going to Kenya!

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Our entire family will travel to Kenya this year and minister along-side our dear friends Josh and Maggie Ghrist with Lighthouse for Christ. What an answer to prayer that I can write that statement! It was a year ago that we began praying, almost nightly, as a family, asking the Lord if He would provide for the 5 of us to go. We have purchased the tickets and the reality of it is sinking in.

Yes, there’s the reality of the check-list of items I/we need to do – immunization shots for the kids, luggage to replace, item to purchase, etc. Those just follow on the heels of my regular list of laundry, meal prep and light bulb replacements. The Lord is also “reality checking” my heart and throwing out any old, torn luggage ‘cuse me, baggage, with His unused, endured through eternity, truth.

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Tired Arms, Strong Shepherd

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As a mom, homeschooler, wife and stocker-of-the-pantry, the daily responsibility to lead well weighs heavy on my shoulders. When my kids are hungry, what do they do?

“Mom, I’m hungry.”

When breakfast is out of the way and tummies are full, the questions turn to the day’s schedule.

“What are we doing today, Mom?”

Of all the places and times I am looked upon to lead, direct, point out, initiate, start the ball rolling…to read the words “The Lord is my Shepherd” wash great comfort and relief over my tired arms. I didn’t realize how heavy the load was that I was carrying. And I didn’t realize I was trying to carry it all by myself.

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What if the Alarm Clock Fails and You’re Late Again?

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Before turning out the lights to end the day, I had Adam set the alarm for 7 a.m. My parents are in town and my dad wanted to go jogging with me in the morning.

Being able to hear the birds sing rather than dodging two way traffic is my preference, so getting out the earlier, the better. At 5:30 my body jolted up, peering through blurred, squinty eyes to see what time the clock said. “In case the alarm forgets to go off,” I thought, “I need to wake myself up.” I did it again at 6…and again at 6:30…finally at 6:45 I thought, “The alarm is set, just trust that it will work.” Sure enough at 7:00, the alarm rang!

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I’m Sorry, What Did You Say?

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What did we do before MP3 players and headphones? Road trips and quiet times at home would not be the same without them. Each of my children gets to listen to their choice of songs or stories independently. No more “But I want to listen to Veggie Tales again for the 47th time!”

However, there is a down side. I don’t like to give instructions only to be met with this…

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4 Ways We Can Have Unity in our Diversity

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If you mix all the colors of the rainbow together, you get brown.

Ephesians 4 talks of “Unity in the body of Christ”. It says things like “ walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace… (verse 1-3)”

This unity of the Spirit implies we allow each color to shine its designated, unique hue while working together as one body. We also have the beautiful imagery of Believers being the body of Christ. Some of us are maybe more thick skinned than others and therefore are a perfect heel, some bend really well and act as an elbow. We each have our part, yet bend and strain as needed to keep the whole body healthy. When the right side of your should hurts, the other side also begins to because it’s been overcompensating for the right side. Without the smallest member, our body and the Body of Christ can’t function properly. So how do we work together while letting each part/each color be unique? In other words, that’s easy to say and write about; it’s much harder to live. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just some examples that have come to my mind:

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What if I Just Want to be with You?

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 I’ve had a long standing rule in my house that “wake up” time is at 7:00 a.m. I need my sleep and space in the morning so everyone is to stay in their room till then.
Before my oldest son turned three, I had a clock in his room with stars marking the 7 and 12. I followed this timely gift with a conversation about when the little hand points to the 7 and the big hand points to the 12, that means it’s 7:00 and you can wake up!
For the most part it worked. At times, even now, one of the kids will push the envelope and crack open the living room door at 6:55, just to check the validity of this invisible boundary. I usually let it slide, but then in a couple days, 6:55 turns to 6:50 and then to 6:45.

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Embracing Motherhood Even When I Don’t Wanna Be a Mom Today

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I haven’t felt like being a mom today – or this week for that matter.

Maybe it’s this new blog and all the stories that fill my mind. Maybe it’s the family adventure we’re about to embark on. Maybe it’s that time of the month.

It’s just that I’m tired of no-win situations. I make one kid happy just to make the other mad – it wears on a person, ya know!

I don’t know, but when I think about fixing dinner, honestly, I’d really rather not. Meal planning – ugh, I think I’ll fast. Laundry – can’t you do your own? Dishes – please wash yourself. Truly, I have no motivation left.

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God, What Do You Think About Green Hair?

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Like my son’s green Mohawk? I love it. Unfortunately Zach didn’t care for it (he said he wished it was red, not green) and so we had to wash it out.

It’s funny to watch my grandfather cringe when he sees Zach’s hair. It’s the same with my husband’s beard and my oldest son’s longer-than-a-military-crew hair cut. It just goes against everything in him to see something out of the ordinary.

It’s funny how the little things people differ in can get to us.

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When Puzzles Just Take Awhile

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I love puzzles. Short ones, that is. The ones with about 100 pieces that can be completed in one sitting. I love the idea of putting together a 1,000 piece puzzle. I’d set up a place for it tucked away in a quiet corner by a window so this project can always be lingering in the background. I can pass by the table on my way to the laundry room, put a few pieces together, then carry on with my laundry and other things.

I love the idea of setting the box lid before me, studying the color scheme and placing all the pieces in groups accordingly.

I love the idea of being able to match the pieces to the picture and feel the click when those pieces interlock.

I long for this in my life. Yet, so many times, I don’t find it. I can’t even find the lid with the picture! I try to group my pieces by color but so many times I can’t decipher if the green is the grass, the newly budded trees or a really cool shirt.

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