Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

It started with a simple movement, almost subconscious.  Just a little hop, then a skip.  Across the living room floor.  No reason behind it, no motivation.  Just a way to get from point A to point B.  My inward child let out a sigh of exhilaration.

In that skip across the room, I had a realization.  I need more fun in my life.  I need to BE more fun in my life.

So today my friends, I'm off having fun.  No significant change in my routine, no meticulous plan.  I still have laundry to fold and dishes to wash.  I still have 3 year old pee pee panties to change and a 2 year old to coax down for a nap.  But I also have the recognition that I can have fun living life or not.  It's up to me.  So I'm choosing fun.

Are you?

Today I Held Fresh Life

What a privilege it is to be in the presence of a miracle.

Congratulations Jess and Dave, she is truly a gift from God.

Restoration

Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble.

Then your light will shine out from the darkness,

and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

The Lord will guide you continually,

giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like an ever-flowing spring.

Isaiah 58: 10-11

I desperately needed to hear this this week.  And I wonder if anyone else does too?  I fear I too often focus on how dry I'm feeling, wallowing in a sea of melancholy and self-pity, wishing and praying for the Lord to come and restore me and quench my thirst.  And in the process of my inward focus, I miss the opportunities God has placed in front of me to fulfill his commands.  It's not just a nice thing to do, feeding the hungry.  It's not just a social issue, to help those in trouble.  It is the very word of God.  It's not about programs or organizations.  It's just simple.  See the need and fill it.  And in doing so experience restoration and joy beyond your wildest imagination.

Cheese And Whine

Did you know that every child is born with the innate ability to tune their voices to *just* the right timbre and frequency to drive their individual parents absolutely mad?

And further, not only are children able to do this with surprising accuracy and brutal consistency from a very young age, but they are also completely immune to the effect it has on their parents.  In fact, any recognition of said effect is entirely ignored, in the pursuit of their own interests.

It takes a very mature, seasoned and patient parent to not only receive the verbal lashing and respond appropriately, but also to not give into the temptation to tune their own voice to same timbre and mimic the madness that is streaming from the child's lips.

Today, my friends, that parent is not me.


PS.  This post was actually written on Saturday, when I was indeed in the midst of whine hell.  Today is much, much improved.  :-)

The Paper Mama Photo Challenge: Peace

I don't normally participate in photo challenges because, as you all are probably painfully aware, I am NOT a photographer.  But when I saw this challenge hosted by Chelsey at The Paper Mama, I instantly knew which picture I wanted to enter.  So, today I'm making an exception.  Besides, hubs took this picture anyway.

Following a tumultuous, frightening and exhausting birth, a newborn Princess #4 and I settled into bed for a long peaceful sleep, for in the end, all was well.  To this day this picture represents to me peace in it's purest form.