Love

Love

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in it's place,

but have not love-I am a housekeeper, not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing and decorative achievements,

but have not love-my children learn of cleanliness, not godliness.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.

Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.

Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk. 

Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love is present through trials.

Love reprimands, reproves and is responsive.

As a mother there is much I must teach my child,

but the greatest of all is...love.

I love this! I am unsure of the author...I read it in the Duggar's newest book and thought that it was such a great reminder of what my priorities should be.  I like having an ultra clean, super organized home, so it is a challenge at times for me to lay aside my work and play with my kids.  My goal is to be very intentional with my time, and to spend it wisely...I'm working on it!

To Me (When I'm Old),

Dear Melanie, 
    When you are 60 or 70, or hey, even 45 (not that 45 is old), please remember how tough it is to be in the throes of raising littles.  Remember that you never, ever sleep all night long.  Remember that the littles make messes faster than you can clean them up.  Remember that you spent the majority of everyday wiping bottoms and noses, sweeping floors and folding clothes, cutting up food and reading the same book over and over again. Remember that you work really, really hard to show your children how to live God's way.  Remember that you spend countless hours facilitating learning activities and opportunities for practicing good character. Remember that you had to discipline the same child, for the same thing, over and over and over again.  Remember that you are being constantly touched, that someone small is always begging to be held and that the Moby or Ergo saved you often.  Remember that you listen to cries, whines, and annoying music.  Remember that you answered questions about the why and how come of everything imaginable. Remember that you feel spread too thin, that you feel exhausted, overwhelmed and like you're always failing somebody in some area of life. Remember that it's hard to balance God, hubby, kids, friends, housework and everything else on your "to do" list.  Remember that you are pouring your heart and soul into your family, acting selflessly in most everything you do.
     Don't forget the good stuff either, because there is plenty of that.  This season of life is made up of hard work, but it's also full of giggles and snuggles and small people who love you more than anyone else in this world ever has.  Those small people are gifts from God that fill your day with joy unspeakable, they are precious blessings that you absolutely adore, and they have helped make you into the person that you are. I could write on and on about the good, but that is not the purpose of this letter. Here's the most important thing I have to say to you: encourage others! When you see young mommies out and about, or read their posts on social media, encourage them! Don't be vain. Don't think that they have it easier than you did.  Don't think that they aren't as good at parenting as you were. Remember what life with littles is like.  Tell them that they are doing a good job.  Find something good and comment on it. Tell them that you know how hard they work. Tell them you know how hard it is to serve selflessly. Affirm who they are...the mommy God chose for those kids.  The best mommy in the world for those kids. This is pretty basic, but if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.  Don't ever say you didn't have any problems with your kids because you chose a better way to parent.  
     Your parenting is covered by grace.  By God's grace.  It is only by his grace that any child grows up to be a force for his kingdom.  You are doing your best.  So are most of the other mommies out there.  Give them grace too. Love others. That's it for now...you've got a baby crying and a toddler that needs help in the bathroom! :-)
     

Social Media

I really like Facebook...probably too much. Every time I open that app there are minutes sucked out of my day that I wish I hadn't lost. There are posts that I am genuinely glad to have read, but there are more still that take up mental energy I'm pretty sure I could use to accomplish something infinitely better. Then there is Twitter, Pinterest, and the many other networks I get invitations for but have refused to join. Can we live without social media? The obvious answer is yes, I mean it is pretty non-essential to our physical well being...but what about our emotional and social lives?  

I did the Loving Well study by Beth Moore a few years ago, and she states that culturally we are all spread about a mile wide but only a quarter of an inch deep. That statement resonates with me so much! Am I the only one that feels this way?  I truly believe I know a lot about people (via Facebook newsfeed), but how many people do I really know? I would so much rather be a mile deep and less wide! Where do I start? Does anyone have time to be my (real) friend?! I sound pretty pathetic! Truth is, I do have a couple of close friends that I commune with regularly, but even time with them is shorter than I'd like.  In part, I can attribute that to the season of life I am living in...with so many little loves just the daily care of them dictates much of my time. I long to have more community. I long to have relationships with others that presents as full sentences, not as punctuation marks. 

In Beth Moore's (love her!) newest book she also suggests that a large part of the insecurity women feel is due to media. I'm shouting "Amen!" to that one! I struggle with insecurity without social media, but then when I log on and see one Pinterest project after another that good mommies do with their kids, or see in my Facebook newsfeed that someone is celebrating the potty training success of their one year old (when I just accomplished that with my three year old), or I see a picture on Twitter of the all-natural-homemade-meal-cut-into-cute-shapes another person is providing for their child's lunch (while mine had cheese, apples and pretzels) it all translates into a big fat "I'm a failure" moment. WOW!

So, enough for now, but these are my ramblings about social media, as well as why I am considering banning them from my future forever! I actually tried that and felt very uninformed about life in general...is that normal? Anyone else give this a go? Thoughts???

Blog Beginnings...

Well, I've decided to dive into the world of blogging...well, tiptoe might be a better way to describe my venture. I'm not sure how well I'll keep up with it, nor how often or by whom it will be read, but I thought I'd give it a try. I guess my main goal is to share our lives with our family and friends using technology for easier access. It seems like everyone is so busy that spending time together is something that rarely happens, and often, when it does, the times are so far apart that the majority of the conversation is focused on "catching up". There are a lot of things that we do, that our children say, that we take pictures of, even decisions that we make that don't get shared with others due to a lack of interaction...but, we'd really like to share our lives more, thus the blogging! My goal is to post once a week, and that's pretty lofty given the fact that there are very few hours every week that I don't have someone small attached to me! I'm glad that you've decided to follow our story, and I hope that somewhere in all of my musings you find something encouraging, entertaining, or at least enjoyable to read!