Getting Rid of Stuff

Recently I’ve entered a season of seeing the overwhelming need to get my “stuff” together.  I need to get going on transforming our old office into the nursery for the baby. The cleaning out and re-organizing the house to fit everything is not something I look forward to doing. I’m procrastinating, and I know it. I know I’ll need to throw things out that I really want to hang onto.  This house is only so big. It can’t hold everything. When it’s done, and clean, fresh paint is on the wall, and everything is in the correct place, that will be a great feeling.  It will be worth it all in the end. A beautiful and precious baby will fill the space where the unneeded stuff once was. 

Here’s the thing: The office isn’t the only thing I need to clean out. Turns out I’ve got other “stuff” to deal with too.  Ever sense you need to make some changes, and then that reminder keeps popping up every time you turn around?  That’s where I’m at, and I can’t seem to dodge it. Not only does the closet in the office have baggage that needs to be thrown out, so does my heart. 

Pride. Anger. Stubbornness. Guilt. Insecurity. These are just a few of the things that need to be hauled to the trash. Let’s face it, these things won’t be going to the Goodwill donation bin. Nobody wants them. They need to be trashed. I know exactly what dumpster has their name on it. Learning to let go and pitch them in? That’s the hard part.  For some reason, it’s hard to let them go. Unfortunately, they fall into a group of things that hold many of us captive of enjoying the life we were meant to have.

The scary part, and the one most pressing upon me, is that if I don’t take care of the baggage now, I’m overwhelmingly realizing my children will inherit it. Oh, how I long for them to not battle the same issues I do.  I long to be a better wife, mother, and follower of Christ. That is the core of the plea I can hear from deep within. 

I’m thankful for other women that spur me to be a better person on a regular basis. Challenge can be healthy.  I’m thankful for a supportive and prayerful husband, especially one who loves me and probably doesn’t see how flawed as I know I am. I’m thankful for a church that isn’t afraid to say it like it is when it comes to the need to change, and somehow manages to speak on the very topics that are pressing on my heart each week. I’m thankful for instrumental people who are willing to hold me accountable in my spiritual sojourn’s goals. I’m thankful for the Lord giving me the courage to take steps in making changes and slowing getting a jump start on the Spiritual Spring cleaning I so need. 

And so, my journey to clean out, organize, and put a layer of fresh paint on walls, goes on. I’ll need to throw out things I don’t need, to make room for something precious and beautiful.

Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron.
Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones.
 I will make peace your governor 
and well-being your ruler. – Isaiah 60:17

First World Problems

Quilted Northern Commercial: "It's time to get real about what happens in the bathroom. Stop all the cutesy stuff and start talking about what you really want from your toilet paper.......(In a very serious tone of voice) For myself, for my family- It keeps us clean"

Wow. People are dying all over the world from hunger and we need to get serious about what we want from our toilet paper? Is it me, or are we really missing something?

I know marketing is geared towards what society demands. I get that. We demand luxury. I’m not saying people should be uncomfortable in the bathroom either. Perhaps I’m on high alert after a recent discussion with friends about need vs. luxury. However, let’s face it, if “not soft enough” toilet paper is your most pressing issue in life, you are among the richest people in the world. 

I’ve seen some of the poorest of poor in the world.  I’ve even envied that something they have where they appear to “get” life better than I do. And I, being the one who lives a life where I have more than I need. Then again, I do live in a country where we “need” to get serious about toilet paper.  

The picture above is of a little boy I met a few years ago. He and his 4 other orphan brothers lived in a small shack by themselves. The stale food behind him is all they had to eat for the week. Soft toilet paper was not on the top of his list of needs. He represents millions of others lacking basic needs to survive. 

Perhaps we need to get serious about things that truly matter in life. Perhaps we need to spend less thought and money on toilet paper and more on others. Perhaps the finer things in life cannot be bought but experienced. Perhaps we should get real, and stop all the cutesy stuff and start talking about important things in life.  Why? For ourselves, for our families, and for others that are in true need. 

2012 Year End Review

At the end of each year, I try to come up with a list of things I’ve learned or gleaned some sort of knowledge or humor from.  In random order, here’s what made the list.

My 2012 Year End Review

-You may be getting too attached to your morning news show when you feel betrayed by seeing one of  your favorite field reporters on another network.

-We are attracted to water. We do recreation in it, on it, and around it. People want to build their homes by it. People build ponds to enjoy it. It’s as if we are drawn toward it like metal to a magnet. Perhaps it has something to do with how we all started off in amniotic fluid.

-There are a lot of hurting people out there. Many are out there hurting others. Some don’t even know it. Hurt people- hurt people.

-A smile goes a long way. Further than just from ear to ear.

-Toddlers don’t digest kiwi seeds. You should know this before you have a moment of freaking out over what seems to be bugs in your child’s diaper.

-A great place to hide things is under the couch. Apparently I don’t clean under there often.

-Give a child a toy, he will play for a minute. Give a child a box and he we play for an eternity.

-I should listen to Christmas songs year round.  Perhaps I would be more accustomed and desensitized so I wouldn’t cry at every song I hear from Nov-Dec.

-Definition of nap- “A short sleep during the day.” I have no idea what this means.

-If wanting a bunker makes me a crazy prepper, I’m in trouble.

-Sometimes there’s a fine line between a toddler kiss and a bite.

-Wet forgotten laundry in the washer not only sours, it breeds.

-If an epiphany, a great workout, or a dinner with friends fail to make anyone’s Facebook page, did they really happen?

-Sometimes people use large words to feel smart. Really, who throws out “Dichotomy” in casual passing?  You’re smarter than me. I get it.  (Ashley, this isn’t referring to you)

-Your child may be constipated when his diaper falls to the floor, during a diaper change, and your friends hear a thud in the other room. Prunes, Anyone?

-Once you get a vehicle with a third row,  you have officially left your “younger years” behind.  If you are totally okay with that, you have officially entered “maturity.”

-Remember those paper origami fortune things we made as kids? They were the kind that you moved with your thumbs and pointer fingers and had several layers that predicted your future? They don’t work. I didn’t marry a New Kid on the Block, have 10 kids, live in a mansion, or drive a Ferrari. I did way better.

-#TTLOT.  Caring for the suffering of the world will change your life for the better. Give it a try.

-Now that my child actually watches cartoons, I’ve realized they just don’t make cartoons like they used to. By that, I’m referring to The Get Along Gang, Shirt Tales, Rainbow Bright, and The Monchhichi’s.

-Singing WITH my cuddly son while he falls asleep AND hearing my husband and son giggle while playing don’t just top my 2012 list of coolest things. It may top the coolest things ever.

-You may be in an exercise rut when you see a sale on Spanx and your heart flutters.

-Seeing my husband try to get his foot out of a stirrup of a bucking horse might have been one of the most frightening things I’ve seen in a while. Ironically enough, it’s just plain funny now.

-Air travel with a baby/toddler is hard.

-A friend’s terminal cancer disappearing because of thousands of prayers lifted up from all over the world? Powerful. Life Changing. Blessing to witness.

-I don’t know why, but sometimes when the world doesn’t make sense, watching the sunset puts things into perspective.

-It’s awesome my parents have a dog they love. It’s not awesome they want me to treat her like a sibling. It makes me feel weird.

-Sarcasm- my family’s “go to” coping mechanism.

-Different doesn’t equal bad. Change equals growth.

-Silent prayers whispered in the deep recesses of your heart are heard and answered. Don’t think for a second they aren’t.

The Great Outdoors Birthday Party

We had fun celebrating our son's 1st birthday. Since he loves being outdoors, I thought an outdoor theme would be lots of fun. Here are pictures from the big day!

You Might Have a Toddler If:

-You have ever scooped dog food out of your child’s mouth more than once in a day.

-You go down the childproofing aisle just to see if they have come out with anything new to help you since you were there yesterday.

-Your friends ask you if you got your hair done recently and you reply, “No, I just stopped fixing it.”

                          

-You cringe at opening the cable bill for fear your child has ordered new channels via the remote when you weren’t looking.

-You are practicing your “Poop is not Finger Paint” lecture because you have a feeling you will be preaching it soon.

-The Sound of Silence only makes you nervous. Silence = They are in to something they know they shouldn’t be in to.

-You fight the urge to not laugh during a scolding because they are so stinking cute

 -You are convinced your child will be an astronaut, disease curer, professional athlete, or anything else super cool because you think he is exactly that…super cool.

 -Fun games like chase are way more fun now than they ever were when you were a kid. And let’s face it, they were pretty fun back then.

-You savor cuddles when you get them because they don’t happen as often as they used to.  

-You are blown away each day at how something so little can take up such a big part of your heart. 

Letting the Conscience Win

I think of it when I’m tempted to leave my grocery cart in the grassy knoll in the parking lot instead of walking a half -mile to the nearest cart holder. I think of it when I change my mind about buying something at Target, and want to put my unwanted beauty product on the shoe shelf in front of me. Who walks to the other side of the store to put it back where it came from?  Let’s face it; the trek from Beauty to Shoes is a journey. But then a stereotypical image of a worn out cart boy or a tired stock clerk pops into my mind. “Treat people how you want to be treated,” bounces off the walls of my head as I try to ignore it. "Not now. I’m in a hurry, Conscience. Come back later when I’m in a do-gooder mood." Ultimately, the conscience usually wins out and I pout my way to doing the right thing.

It’s not exactly the cheerful giver attitude I’d be proud to have, but I’m a work in progress like everyone else. Treating people how we would want to be treated, paying it forward, and doing unto others as you would want them to do unto you is a revolutionary idea. It takes a certain amount of removal of self to do it though. Who wants to do that? Most days, not I.

Maybe that’s the problem.  Most of us, most days are playing out that “not I” mentality even though we know from experience we always feel better if we decide to listen to that inner conscience. Could it be that the world would have less violent crimes, theft, abuse, and even loneliness if we could all embrace the concepts of love, kindness, and the value of treating others how we would want to be treated?

So many blame guns for violence, media for laziness, poor laws for crime, and government for the condition our society is in. What about us? Are we not to blame? Imagine a freeway with less road rage, passive aggressive-less (I’m aware that’s not even a word) arguments with loved ones, a hate-less society, and a world where everyone looks out for their brother instead of constantly looking over their shoulder.  I realize the reality of this is slim other than it playing out in a Disney movie on the big screen.  But maybe it could start in our own home, our own city block, our own workplace, or even just at our local grocery store.  It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and in the wake of a time of so many terrible things going on, maybe a spark here and there could actually make a difference.

Call me idealistic, (You wouldn’t be the first) but I have hope. Although we are all self-centered, I do believe there is an innate sense of doing good and ability to love in us all. After all, we were born with it, and it’s why we were created, to love and be loved in return.   

“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

Top Ten Signs Your Child is Teething in Random Order

1.   Your child is trying to chew odd things…like the floor

2.   Sore gums have caused cranky fits that leave everyone involved needing a bath after dirty diaper changings.

3.   You lift them up and ask them to give you a kiss and instead you get drips of luke warm drool    showering your lips.

4.   You find YOURSELF taking Tylenol before each feeding

5.     Your dog isn’t chewing on your slippers nearly as much as your child is

6.    You feel like throwing a party when you feel something hard poking through their gums

7.   You have said “Mommy doesn’t want you to chew her toes” more than once in a day

8.   You purchased almost everything in the teething relief isle at Walgreens just out of desperation

9.   "Please help a tooth pop through his gums soon” is on your daily prayer list

10. You just figured out those strange crescent moon shape marks on the chair ottoman are bite marks