Organization and Living Simply

A couple of months back I felt very convicted about our need to simplify our home (and our lives). In a world that keeps telling us that we NEED more and should get more to be happy, this seems to be a difficult task.  As I looked around our home, I saw so many things. Things that held no special memories, importance or actual use. Things that were taking up valuable space, that were making our home seem disorganized, and that were adding to the clutter we seem to constantly battle. 

The first order of business in "simplifying" became to change our vocabulary. This was made VERY evident by a certain three year old's LOVE for the word " need". 

  He needs my phone to play. He needs candy. He needs to watch TV.  He needs a snack. 

To combat this, we have attempted to rephrase what he wanted to communicate. 

He does not need the phone, he would like the phone.

He does not need candy (candy just isn't a need, EVER) , he would like some candy.

As we have been teaching him this new lesson, our vocabulary changed too. How many times do we refer to our desires (read wants) as needs? With the belief that it is a need, we go ahead and get whatever it is we want: candy, chocolate bar, expensive coffee (that's me!), the list goes on. 

I don't think all wants are bad, but I do believe that I needed to label wants as such and differentiate them from my real needs. The best way to teach our kids this lesson is to live this myself. 

After learning about needs vs. wants, a lesson I feel will be retaught and relearned daily, we decided to start actually simplifying our home. 

So far we have "simplified" Scott's toys. Scott and I worked on that together. It was a great activity for the two of us. It also helped me teach him about giving to others. We looked at all his toys in the living room, sorted them by categories and gave away those that didn't belong.

I've also worked on other rooms in our house as well as my email, other accounts and some paperwork.

Right now, we are packing our house ( 2 of the 3 floors) because we are getting new carpet tomorrow (!!!!!!!). I deeply dislike packing. However, I am very excited about having a blank slate for organizing and simplifying the bedrooms, bathrooms and the basement. As I unpack my plan is to just put things in each room that are necessary and sort through the rest. My goal is to have a home that is meaningful and full of memories, not full of stuff.

It's November!

This year has officially escaped me! I had MANY, MANY plans for 2013. However, "life" seems to continuously stop me from accomplishing ALL I want. Maybe, I just need more than 24 hours in my day.

Somewhere around July, I realized that I really wasn't making a dent on my "2013 goals" list. I sat down and noticed, this has been a pattern for some years now. This made me sad, this made me angry - at myself. As usual, I started to blame myself and put down what I had accomplished, what had happened, what DID get crossed off my list. I am my own WORST critic, but in that, I also forget to be grateful for what is.

My usual sequence of events runs me down a path of joyless, grumpy days until I decide to REDO my list and start over.

This year I decided that this usual cycle isn't  working. I also decided this is not what I want my kids to see. A defeated and ungrateful spirit because everything I wanted to get done wasn't. So for some months I have been researching reading and studying about goal setting - both short and long term. I have come across some amazing information and have learned a lot. I'm still learning and trying to put it all into action.

I have learned to cut myself some slack and enjoy my days more. Instead of fretting over all that needs to happen in a day, I am learning to focus on a few important things and enjoy morning cuddles with our son, play time with our daughter, family time when Jared is home and we are all together.
This is all a work in progress, but I do find that more is actually getting done, and that my day (or my worth) isn't made or ruined by how many tasks on my list were crossed off.

During this time I've also been learning about how to be more and better organized - in everything that can possibly be organized. I have also been convicted about some changes that needed to be made and are already in progress. I hope to write about my walk through a more fulfilled life, as well as parenthood and our life more often.

Since it is November, I have set the rest of 2013 to get some things in order and hope for 2014 to be a completely different year for me as I take all I've learned and grow more in who I am and who I'm supposed to be.

To Sum up The Week

Thanks Kate for the idea to post a picture that captures our week!

Gender Roles?

Recently I have come across discussions about the following :
The Gospel is for Baby Bear: On Sesame Street and Gender Confusion

Of course there are thoughts on both sides of what Strachan points out in his article.

Our favorite by FAR has to be Matt Mikalatos' : How Sesame Street is Undermining Biblical Values

In response to  Strachan's views, I would like to present our son:

In our home, we firmly believe that all of us are made in the image of our Creator. We believe that males and females, although very different, are equals created by God to fulfill different purposes. However, we do not believe that gender roles are as black and white as Strachan obviously does. Just because we are different in many ways does not mean that stereotypes dictate how we live out our calling in life. 

Our son is a car, dinosaur, and train-loving boy who also loves to give hugs and kisses, to cuddle, and to help with chores around the house. He has a loving and nurturing side to him. This makes him a wonderful son, will soon make him an AMAZING big brother, and will no doubt make him a GREAT man, husband, and father one day! 

We are not only okay with the fact that our son is practicing his nurturing side on a baby doll, but we encourage it. This will not make him less of a "boy" or less "manly". In our opinion, this makes him more like our Creator and that is our goal in raising our children. 

My hope is that our kids never feel they are unable to express some attributes of their character because it doesn't fit a gender role or stereotype. Instead, I hope that both our son and daughter know who they are in Christ and are able to be both strong and nurturing in their lives. 

For more on this topic : 

Boys and Dolls: A Father’s Response

This is why boys, in Sesame Street and in real life, should play with dolls. Not because there’s no difference between boys and girls, but because boys and girls both need to learn to be gentle and caring and compassionate as well as strong and adventurous and brave.

God Made Boys to Play with Dolls

 I find Strachan's stance, that boys who play with dolls ... are deviations from God intentions for men, offensive to the many good men and fathers God created.

To Sum Up the Week

Thanks Kate for the idea to post a picture that captures our week!

From the Mouth of Children

What a year 2013 has already been! Of course we started our year with many goals, plans, and resolutions... most of which, sadly, have already not been kept.

However, one of those "resolutions" was to learn more about God's Word as a family. Mainly with the purpose of teaching our son the importance of knowing what our Lord has said and equipping him with the best tool we can give him to live out his life now and as he grows into the man we pray he will be.
In January I picked 1 Peter 5:7 and this month we picked Philippians 4:13.

Both verses were picked on the easiness of vocabulary and the verse length  (after all he is only 2). Though we wanted a challenge, we don't want to make it impossible for him to memorize!
So we practice our verses every night and sometimes randomly during the day... And he has done very well! He knows both of them. Sometimes he skips a word or two and some of the words he actually does say are hard to understand! Ether way, he is learning his verses, which makes me very happy (and proud)!

Even though I put very little thought into the meaning behind the verses we were going to memorize, God has definitely been using them to speak to me almost daily!

You see, worry is one of those not-so-nice attitudes that I just can't seem to shake. I worry about EVERYTHING! I struggle so much with it that I have had sleepless nights over the smallest issues. Worry sometimes seems to paralyze me!

For the past month and a half, my worry has been over our daughter, our son, our family, and this pregnancy... Is she well? Will she be ok? How will Bug react to his sister? Am I doing enough to include him and love on him before she arrives? How on earth will I keep them both feeling safe, equally loved, equally appreciated?

In the past two weeks the worry has continuously been over the rest of the pregnancy... and hoping everything will be ok. Since I've had a not-so-easy time lately with the pregnancy, I'm worried about all the things that need to be accomplished before the baby arrives. My list seems to grow and practically nothing seems to be crossed out.

I've commented to Jared that I feel that the task list is just too much for my body to handle. Small jobs sometimes make me so tired or even sick...

So God has used my two year old. In the last week he has randomly stopped playing and turned to me and said both Bible verses to me. Of course, this makes me smile and I praise him for doing so well. But it has officially hit me - there is so much TRUTH in what my son keeps repeating to me.

You see, God does care about me and my worries, no matter how small they may be (1 Peter 5:7). He's got this pregnancy, both of our children, and the "to-do list" in His hands! Thank goodness! It is good to be reminded that He cares for me, enough to pay attention to the things that trouble me. It is also good to be reminded that the things that need to get done will get done. That even when I feel my body is not in tune with my mind (or my lists and my goals), God is bigger and He will give me the strength to do everything I need to get done.

I know this is a very literal application of both of these verses. However, they have come at a time I've needed them, reminding me that our God is bigger than the things I allow to take over my mind and heart (whether big or small). Also, that He will equip me with what I need to get tasks done, whether they are in our home or community... or if the task is bigger than every day things!

 And they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”

Matthew 21:16 (ESV)

To Sum Up the Week

Thanks Kate for the idea to post a picture that captures our week!

To Sum Up the Week

Thanks Kate for the idea to post a picture that captures our week!

To Sum Up the Week

Thanks Kate for the idea to post a picture that captures our week! If you are inspired to do the same, leave your link on the comments!

We wanted to share our Verse for the month of January. It only took him 2 weeks to learn and be able to say by himself! He's so smart!

Give all your worries to him, because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7 (ERV)

I picked this verse because it seemed easy to learn. It's been awesome to see how God has totally been using it in my life every day! :) 

To Sum Up the Week

Thanks Kate for the idea to post a picture that captures our week!

"You know you're a Parent When..."

• A task that should take 5 minutes actually takes 15 because your toddler is "helping".
• For the sake of teaching your child responsibility, you allow him to "assist" you in projects that are not really intended for 2-year olds. 
• You wait until bed time or nap time to eat the candy bar you have been craving all day! (yes, I'll admit I am guilty of this)!
• You find extra napkins/tissues in your pockets or purse all the time.
• You strategically place belongings out of your child's reach.
• You walk like a dinosaur through all of ULTA to keep your child engaged while your spouse gets a haircut.
• Peek-a-boo is a game you can officially play ANYWHERE!
• You make your child repeat a sentence as many times as possible just because it is SO funny!
• You don't care about public humiliation so long as your child smiles at the camera.
• You have the camera or phone ready at a moment's notice to capture the funny things your child does!
• One of the most horrible things to forget when going out is wipes - seriously, you just don't want to be caught without them!
• You are looking at "family cars" instead of "fun cars" as your future vehicle!
• Your version of "sleeping in" is 7:30... if you are lucky!
• You schedule things around naps.
• Things that seemed unimportant years ago are now important topics of conversation.
• Hugs and kisses from your little one = BEST THING EVER!
• Cuddling with your child is something you look forward to.
• You love listening to your child laugh.
• You memorize a story because you have read it so many times!
• You are interested in your child's bodily functions and you don't get grossed out like before.
• You find yourself randomly singing kid's show tunes instead of the newest song on the radio.
• By "bedtime" you are exhausted but you still walk in to your child's room to watch him sleep!
• No matter what, you wouldn't trade one second with your child for the world!  

 

                         

Feeding Elmo

Being silly

                             

Cuddling and reading while hanging out with Daddy.

To Sum Up the Week

Thanks Kate for the idea to post a picture that captures our week!

To Sum Up the Week

*This was supposed to post Saturday. Sorry for the delay!*

Thanks Kate for the idea to post a picture that captures our week!