Great Gifts *Giveaway Link*

I don't know about you, but I love finding *THE* perfect gift. However, I am not extremely successful an absolute failure at it... So, I generally resort to the practical and necessary. Not exciting, but hey- better than forgetting, right? I happened to stumble across a new blog this morning, because they're having a giveaway for a Linksys EA4500 wireless router. This would actually be not only a great Father's Day gift for my hubby, but also a necessary one. Our router has been acting up for a while now, causing annoyances all the time! He'd be thrilled, I'm sure... He is certainly a Geek Dad! :) If you'd like to enter to win the contest, you can do so right here! May the geekiest dad win!

choices do not always equal judgment

This morning I read a blog from one of my favorite mom bloggers, and it resonated with me on many levels.  The gist of the blog {in case you don't want to read the entire thing} was about the "trend of deriding those bloggers who write anything considered "alternative". They are accused of being holier-than-thou, of judging others, of making others feel bad about their lives, of presenting an impossible image, and above all, of pretending to have the perfect life".  


Wow.  After writing a blog about "mompetition" and some areas where I needed to be less competitive, I was accused of being judgmental and making them feel bad about their parenting choices.  In hindsight, though I wrote that blog with no intention of hurting feelings, I can see how the tone might have come across as haughty.  I shared some things that I'm passionate about, and how I need to be less judgmental about  my choices.  Yet, I was still accused of judging by saying I needed to judge less.  If you can possibly understand that, God bless you. {can you send me an email and explain it to me?}


You see, after years of community in an online group of friends {we connected on a parenting website when we were all pregnant with our first children}, I decided to be really transparent about an area where I was struggling.  Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the path that conversation would ultimately take.  To make a very long, emotionally damaging story short, several of the ladies {who I would've referred to as some of my closest friends, albeit only in the virtual world} began ripping me apart, limb from limb, accusing me of being judgmental and opinionated for sharing some of my choices {breastfeeding, choosing not to fully vaccinate, attachment parenting, not taking narcotic meds after a c-section because I didn't want to endanger my breastfeeding or bonding relationship with my newborn}.  One gal even went as far as to say that I was "without tact".  I was absolutely heartbroken, and it rocked me to the core of my being.  


In "real life", I had never been accused of being judgmental or opinionated.  I really contemplated why, and determined two things: one, the written word can often be read in a different tone than it was originally intended; and two, perhaps I feel a greater freedom to share about my decisions when I'm writing {not getting interrupted every two sentences is empowering! ha!}.  


I love what a commenter wrote on the original blog I mentioned.  She said that the "crunchy" life choices tend to be more research-based.  I'd never thought about it that way.  But yes- I do tons of research about practically every decision I make {from parenting to food purchases to laundry detergent}.  So, when I make a decision, I feel a great deal of certainty {granted, any decision as a mom is subject to change at any given moment!}.  Perhaps, then, when I share about a choice I've made, it comes across as being haughty or proud {in a negative way}, because I am so certain after doing hours of research.


We all have the privilege and responsibility of doing our own research and making our own decisions.  When reading about other people {especially other moms} and their choices, we would all do well {myself included} to refrain from assuming malicious intent.  So hard.


So, what about you?  Have you been accused of being judgmental when you share a decision?  Have you ever been in a situation where you were offended by someone else's certainty?

lessons from broccoli.

One of the many things that I love about Jesus is how He related to the people of His day using stories {we call them parables}.  He used the things of everyday life, such as farming, to help people relate to Biblical truth.  All throughout the Gospels {Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John}, we see Jesus speaking in story form.  I think we all could stand to learn from His easy, conversational way of relating to others... regardless of beliefs about spiritual matters.  Instead of attempting to work so many "churchy" words and phrases into our sentences, we would have greater influence if we were just... real.  Being salt and being light {what Jesus said we should be like in this world} is less about words and more about relationships.  The most effective way to share the love of Christ is organic... it's natural, it's based on building relationships with people.

I find that God speaks to me through stories.  He uses the simplest, most ordinary things to reinforce the truths that I've read in His Word.  In the stillness, in the chaos that is my life, in the midst of laundry and dishes and potty breaks, {even as I type this, I had to pause when I heard, "Mommy... I need to go potty!"}He speaks.  Today, I want to share with you how God used broccoli.

Several weeks ago, we decided to try growing broccoli.  Let me explain how our first attempt at container gardening was a complete flop didn't go exactly as we'd hoped.  We bought tons of containers, planted all kinds of things, watered and fed the plants as we were supposed to, and harvested a crop {i.e., 3} potatoes the size of marbles.  I'm pretty sure that one pest or another {I'm learning to LOATHE snails} gobbled up any hopes of other vegetables we'd hoped to eat from our garden.  So, I suppose you could say I/we were less than optimistic about the outcome of our little broccoli-planting venture.  

Within a week or ten days, our broccoli plant began to grow... bigger, and bigger, and bigger.  On our front porch is this huge, beautiful, healthy-looking broccoli plant.  There was only one small problem... despite its huge green leaves, it lacked one single head of broccoli.  Oh, it was beautiful, and it gave me hope that we would actually get to eat the fruits... er, vegetables, of our labor.  Walt has been faithfully watering the plant and watching after it, and while it appeared to be "working", without a head of broccoli, all of his work was in vain.  What's the use in putting hours into a vegetable plant that has only leaves and no vegetables?

About 19 months ago, we started asking God to grant a specific request for our family.  While I know that God has heard my request, He has not yet answered in the way I've expected.  I am thankful that the power of a prayer is in the One who hears it, not the one who says it.  Not a day has gone by that I haven't pleaded with God for this one thing.  During an especially meaningful time with God a couple of months ago, I felt Him whisper to my heart, "I want you to want Me most."  So, perhaps, He has not answered this prayer the way I'd hoped because He just wants my heart to be completely His, completely surrendered to whatever He wants for my life.  As I poured my heart out to a friend, she imparted a bit of wisdom that wasn't lost on me.  She said, "Perhaps this is the way you learn trust. Not saying it's easy. Nothing worth it ever is."

Yesterday morning, we woke up and were going about our normal routine when Walt {who I thought had already gone to work!} came into Caleb's room.  He handed me his phone, which had a picture on it, and said, "We have broccoli!" 

Lo and behold, our broccoli plant is starting to sprout heads of broccoli!  




Oh, no, they're not huge, and we definitely have a while before they're edible.  

But we. have. broccoli.  

That's the main point.

All of Walt's hard work, all of our waiting, is paying off.  

I was thinking about our impending broccoli success while unloading the dishwasher this afternoon, when God said to me, "You know this other thing that you've been asking Me about?"  


I dried off another cup... "mmhmm?"


"Give it time.  Give Me time.  Let Me work.  What I'm doing, it's far bigger, it's so much more than you can imagine, and it's going to take time.  Trust Me."


And, so I will.  Because He. is. good.

Believe it: I have all I need for today.  The needs of our day are great, but God is greater and we call Him providence because we believe: He always provides.  {And when God provides, He should be praised, and if God always provides, shouldn't praise always be on our lips?}

Ann Voskamp

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the sandpipers

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of spending some time at the beach with my family.  Literally.  Condo within spittin' distance of the Atlantic.  It was glorious.  


We collected shells {I smell some crafting fun in my near future}, watched surfers {who had some great waves, thanks to a passing hurricane}, played in the waves {when the rip current wasn't too ridiculously strong...}, ate at a couple of local restaurants {DaKine Diego's Insane Burritos. ridiculously good.}, and just enjoyed our time being together as a family.  


We are beach people, through and through.  There's just something calming about watching and listening to the waves.  It's almost hypnotizing.  My mom and I discussed the incredible amount of energy the ocean contains.  My heart kept singing, O Lord, my God... when I, in awesome wonder, consider all the works Thy hands have made... Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee... How great Thou art...  Even Caleb has listened to the ocean on a sound machine all night, every night, since he was just weeks old.  We. Love. The. Beach.


And, in all honesty, who has been to the beach and NOT noticed the sandpipers, playing along the water's edge?  

 

(image courtesy National Geographic)

As the waves go out, they scurry as quickly as their little birdie legs will carry them, and they start searching in the sand for these little, itty bitty creatures that live in shells, as well as whatever other insects they can find and quickly eat.  The shell dwellers know the birds are coming, too, because as soon as they're exposed, they start trying to bury themselves in the sand and hide.  Burrowing deeply, I imagine them holding their breath until another wave comes to sweep them away from the danger of the sandpipers.

One morning, I awoke before everyone else {and let me clarify- that was literally one. morning.  My little alarm clock made sure everyone was up no later than 7am each day. Bless him.  How else would we have seen every sunrise?}.  I quickly made my way out to the back porch, overlooking the ocean.  I had just a few moments before the sun started to peek over the edge of the horizon, and there was this deep longing in my soul to spend those moments talking to my Creator.  The One who spoke everything {this magnificent ocean... this worn-out, weary mom... everything} into existence.  And, as our conversation ensued, I once again began to observe a sandpiper, running back and forth at water's edge.  Just like this one...

Surf Bird/Sandpiper dancing from Richard Smith Jr on Vimeo.




I noticed something about the sandpiper.  He never watched the water.  There was no challenge in moving at just the right time, it was all instinct.  He wasn't nervously watching the waves, trying to get it all right, worried that one would pull him under just as he was trying to grab a bite.  He never looked.  He just did what he was created to do, and trusted that he would be safe.  


I wondered, almost out loud, "How?  How does he know when the water is going to start rushing toward land?" And without missing a beat, the One I was conversing with spoke softly to my heart. "The sandpiper spends his life out here in the ocean... he immerses himself in the environment... everything he does revolves around this ocean.  That is why he doesn't even have to look."  I sucked in a breath, contemplating the depth of this realization.  As I exhaled, I heard Him say, "Daughter, immerse yourself in me, and you won't even have to look around you.  I am all you need."


... and He is.

a yummy right of passage...

Today, Caleb had his first donut!  Needless to say, he is a fan...  I mean, really, who can resist?


It went kind of like this...








Mmmmm... this is good! (of course, he immediately wanted to hold the donut and be in control...)

Hey- that was really good!  ummm... more?
(to which Mommy & Daddy said, "no way!")

Wait a minute... what is this STUFF all over my hands?

Obviously, donuts are not a frequent item in our house... but a much-enjoyed, rare treat- now, for all of us!

Willette's Joy of Love - Days 1 through 5

I have undertaken a month-long challenge by Willette Designs entitled, The Joy of Love.  In typical fashion, I am a few days behind...  Here are days one through five:

 Day 1: What They Do- our assignment was to capture our subject doing, simply, what they do.  We bought Caleb an amazing train table for Christmas, and he so enjoys driving his train around the tracks.  He's quite serious about it, in case you can't tell.

 Day 2: How They Look- our assignment was to capture the TRUE essence/expression/attitude/posture that SCREAMS your loved one!  This cheesy grin is just... Caleb.

 Day 3: Then & Now- our assignment was to capture the difference between how our loved one looked when we met him and how he looks now... to truly get the essence of the changes that have taken place.  One suggestion was to have the subject hold a picture of himself "then"... after several attempts and zero cooperation, I happened to snap this shot as he threw the "then" picture on the ground.  Little did I know how much I would LOVE it!

Day 4: What They Wear- the assignment for day 4 was to capture my subject's clothing, on or off of him.  These are Caleb's everyday K-Swiss sneakers.

Day 5: What You Love to Hate- the assignment? Capture something about your loved one that drives you NUTS... if not a physical characteristic, something that embodies the idea.  One thing that drives me bananas is Caleb's ability to completely tune. me. out. as if I'm not in the room.  This facial expression pretty much says it all. :)

(Big shout-out to my girl, Ree, The Pioneer Woman... my photos just wouldn't be the same without her PS Actions!)