speed bump

I hit a slump and a pretty big one at that. Life was moving along at top-notch speed like it does and then all of a sudden I realize that I don't have as much joy as usual and am getting more and more crabby with the kids and wanting to stay home more and not socialize. yikes!

What to do, what to do?

Well, I figured a good visit or two with my two favorite friends would help and it did.

Slowing down and being intentional when I am at home helps. Paying attention to ONE thing at a time....hard, very hard. So good though.

Really listening to my kids. enough said.

Taking short breaks when I work from home. This way home isn't a drudgy ugly place, but a place that is a blessing to be able to work from home and also enjoy home too.

Give myself GRACE when things don't go the way planned. BREATH.

Remember that I am one woman...dad and mom wrapped up in one, but ONE woman. Remind my kids of that too. Super woman capes are a sham.

Noticing the small things and being so thankful that I live in the home I do, drive a dependable car, have food to eat, arms to hug me and ears to listen to me. so very thankful.

Worship music sung loudly...reading aloud Proverbs in the Word.

Even with doing the above things it takes time to pull out of a slump. Being patient with myself in the process.

What do you do to help you out of slumps?

Lori xo

being real

I have no words to explain the feelings twisting around and around in my heart and mind, 

but Anne does. 

If you aren't afraid of real feelings head on over.

A firm foundation

 

 Yet this I call to mind

    and therefore I have hope:

  Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

 Lamentations 3:21-23

There is one thing that I have come to know as never-changing in this world of ours....God's faithfulness. I can't even count the endless times that He has come through for the kids and I over the years, let alone in the countless times for my friends and family.

I believe firmly though that God partners with me. I think a lot of people get bitter towards God because they have this notion that God just gives to people. Sometimes that is the case, and I am so thankful for those times that I didn't have the strength and He still gave. But mostly in my life I have found that He holds it out and I partner with Him and receive it....I reach for it. 

Recently this is in the area of jobs to support my family. Before this it was in the form of a beautiful home, healthy friendships, nice vehicles, food in lean times, washers, dryers, health for my family and pets, college education.....the list goes on and on. 

I think the balance is in knowing when something is God's Will and when we are striving. This is still a road that I have to daily re-assess in my and my family's lives.

Anyway, I just wanted to encourage you if you find yourself wondering where God is in the midst of a circumstance you find yourself in that He is there. Sometimes (well most of the time) it feels like it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r for Him to answer. In those times I ask Him what I can be doing in the meantime and do it. Like Elisabeth Elliot, who found comfort and strength in a poem after her husband died "when you don't know what to do, do the next thing." 

Keeps our hands and minds busy while God is working out the details!

Lori xo

reflections

I haven't made resolutions for several years now, but do try to keep in mind aspects of my life to keep before God that need some help. ;o)

One of those this year is one that is heard a lot in many lives. My health! Oh boy, have the last two years been a rollercoaster. A couple of Decembers have passed since I found myself with Pneumonia and almost complete adrenal exhaustion. It has been an uphill battle in nutritional changes and spiritual trust. It was more complex than I could have ever imagined, but now I am thinking I am coming over the top of it and am oh so ready to step more fully away from it. God has been such an anchor to me.

I started a new job this past year that I get to help foster youth learn living skills and much mentoring happens. I am going to an interview on Monday for a second job that I would work as an Independent Social Worker helping biological parents of foster parents get the resources they need to get their kids back. I do believe that some people can change and everyone deserves the chance to do that.

I have made new friends and let go of other friends. Transitioning out of a life that was built around a marriage that is no longer there. It hurts at first, but over time I knew it was the right choice. Being true to me.

I have started some fix-it-up stuff at my house. A little here and a little there and it is feeling more like home to me after three years living here.

I am looking forward to the journey that God has me on for 2013!
Lori xo

Transitions

Life seems to lag when we meet head on with transitions. Like my brain is trying to wrap around the changing of seasons, one day we are in a warm green world and it seems like the next brings cold gusts of unrecognizable wind.

Unrecognizable paths ahead of us...children grown and married, another a new adult stretching her wings, and three more stretching, stretching, stretching. For me to be who they need to encourage them, yet caution when needed.

To be the mother who nurtures and the mother who is wise...

Life is such a balance...in every season. This is our last year of homeschooling after fourteen years. Well, my son will be doing a few studies at home for his senior year, but that is considered very low involvement after schooling five at a time for many years.

This is a HUGE transition for me. To have a part of your life over after more than a decade is like a death in a way. Dreams that I thought would always be a part of me, but with life comes transitions.
I teach my kids to ebb and flow with life. I know how to do this too. It's the bigger transitions and the ones that not everyone understands full well that tend to smart a bit.

I trust my girls to have a wonderful time in public school. They have a great gaggle of friends. It's not that aspect....its the family time lost...

What I have found that I will do after being reminded by Ann when she said,
“God doesn’t ask me to be perfect; He asks me to praise.”
is to praise and be thankful. That is will take the sting out of the hurt a bit and soften the blow.

Dealing with the fall-out of another person's decisions is a life-long road to walk. Someone's choices will always affect ours. Sometimes we walk it with more ease than others and sometimes it just plain hurts.

It's our choice as to how we will navigate it. I choose thankfulness and praise.

Boy, there is a lot of decluttering of books from millions of years of schooling at home...and with each tear slipped there will also be words of praise for the years my kids spent right here at home with me.

Lori
xoxo

 

comparing is a naughty word

I have a problem...when I don't check in here for a loooooong time I have too much on my mind to talk about. I could talk about learning more about the ph balance in our bodies and how it is soooo important. OR I could talk about how seriously in LOVE with my kids I am and how they are THE BEST kids on the planet Earth, but you already know that about me. ;o)

I settled on talking about something that I have been walking through much of my past 10 years...comparing. blech.

Even if we don't do it consciously, we do it. We compare ourselves to others. There is more than one way to "keep up with the Joneses". Is our house as clean, our abs as tight, our food as nutritious, our kids as ______(insert your phrase), our bank account as loaded, our marriage as strong, our brain as educated...the list can be endless....oh yeah our garden as bountiful.....um, no. My garden sucked this year with a capital "S".

Even so....I am OKAY with that. Really okay. Because the bounty of my garden or the tightness of my abs DOES NOT dictate who I am...and if it does then I am hanging with the wrong set of people.
I am learning that I am not supposed to be perfect.

I am supposed to be real and try my best. That is all. So are you.

I think that there are two words to totally simplify it all....learn + enjoy.

learning from a moment instead of feeling like a failure because of it. HUGE.
enjoying something for what it is and not what we wanted it to be....equally huge.

That is all. I am reminding myself of these things daily. I do my best and when I have done that I am learning to enjoy it.

I hope the same for you.
Lori xo

water on a hot day

 We finally got some heat here in Southwest Washington. Felt sooooo good! Since my summer has been so busy with working I decided to "take a day".  The kids were appreciative and Daisy our lab was too!

 Between watching the kids, wading in the river and lounging/browsing books it was a relaxing day.

Silly teens! :o)
Lori xo