Maintaining balance has always been a constant challenge for
me, but one I work hard at…. But I sometimes drop the ball. Juggling home school academics, character
building, trying to be a nurturing mother, a wife, manager of the home, with
household chores and those responsibilities, AND earning money, has proven to
throw me off balance a time or two. I
seriously do not know how mothers working full-time, outside of the home,
manage to get it all done. I couldn’t. I once worked full time; and I realized that the
“nurturing” mother did not exist in me when I was working away from my family. Perhaps in my mind I was nurturing (I love them,
in my heart), but my actions, or inability to be there for them, was proving
what was in my mind and heart wasn’t enough for these children. I needed to physically be there for them.
Once the Holidays were in full force I realized my balance
was being tested, and tilting to the point of OVER THE EDGE. January (last month) I decided, in order to
keep my sanity, I needed to pull back on some things, let go of some things, and
re-focus on my priorities. Right now my
priority is seeing another high school graduate out my doors and into college,
and providing the education my high school sophomore needs, get my house back
in order, as well as repair the neglect in my marriage… All of which I can’t do
when I’m trying to earn money. My
husband has a good job, and is a very good provider for our family. Even if he didn’t have a “good job”, I still I
need to trust his abilities, and live within our means. The living within our means could be a title
of another blog. I think our unhappiness
stems from our want, and not really our needs.
I trust God to provide, and when things get tight I still need to trust,
and focus on what He has called me to do.
The bank account is not a measure of our success; it’s the lives we have touched and the love
we have shared. From a Mother's Heart
“An Open Heart…. With a Dash of Salt”: Follow a mother’s journey as she learns with an open heart, loves with a full heart, shares laughter, courage, and life lessons. We’re all learning how to love, laugh, and live life; with humility, grace, forgiveness, and Joy. With a gentle spirit, yet a spunky side-order of salt; Hoping to reach women who care, women who dare, women who share.
Monday, February 4, 2013
A Year Disappeared
Wow, how quickly a year goes by. It’s almost as if this past year has been a
blur; like walking in a fog. I am trying
to think back on 2012, and remember what consumed me. It obviously wasn’t blogging. I launched a business last year. Besides homeschooling my two remaining high
school children, I ventured into a photography business that I became engulfed
in. Balance is the key.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Thankful and Grateful - Outside of the Box
Many years back, when my children were small, a friend of
mine from our homeschool group mentioned something to me that welded to my
heart. The words she spoke penetrated within me... as if to first pierce, then melt, an eternal emotion into my heart.
We had been talking about curriculum, and different academic study
material, when my friend Chris said: “I am working on teaching my children gratefulness.” At that time I too was working on “character
building” with my young daughters, and we had covered the basics like honesty,
integrity, kindness, joy, patience…. But the word “gratefulness” began to
ring a mighty gong. My mind flooded with thought. It was as if a bright light opened a door
into my soul, uncovering the missing partner, of who we already knew, thanksgiving.
For the next several weeks I pondered on this word:
GrateFULLness… GRATEfulness… Grat-it-ude...
Grateful: Full of gratitude. I had taught
my children to be thankful, and we often studied “Thanksgiving” … It was important to us to look back in American History to
the pilgrims and William Bradford’s first Thanksgiving. Since we are in the direct blood line of Bradford, and he was our
great-grandfather generations back, I took painstaking effort to teach my
children their heritage, and thanksgiving
was just that.
We taught our children about “Giving Thanks,” and being
thankful in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18)... Often reminding them to look for the
positives in every situation… Training their little minds to think about how
thankful we need to be … and reminding them that in all of the bad situations we
encounter, it could always be worse…. But
that day I discovered a key element that was missing…. Gratefulness,
a partner for thanksgiving… a soul
mate.
After my brief encounter with my friend, and the amazing,
sometimes mind boggling, truth of Gratitude, we search and find what is good in
everything. In every heart-break, every troubled pain, if
you search your heart, you will find a positive in every situation. When the word “gratitude” was breathed into
my heart, I knew there was more to thanksgiving, and I just discovered its
life-long partner. Because gratitude is
a life-style that we practice, and perfect, and never let it go.
Now bringing you up to 2012, the last of my six children are
almost grown, and I am reminded once again to practice gratitude. As I mourn the age where little foot-steps no
longer patter through the house, and giggles and squeals have quieted, and busy
lives overshadow the little things in life to be thankful for, I embrace a
sense of gratitude for the time God blessed me with. I prepare for a new season, a new equinox of
motherhood.
A season changing.... Then along the sojourn of mothering, the Lord sends another friend to cross my path... This friend, limping along, in pain, is obviously sent my way to slow me down… to remind me once again that there is so much more to be thankful for. Sure enough, this friend who sometimes shares her pain, a reciprocal exchange, comes with blessings, with a “gift” to share....
This day, it's a tangible gift.... She blesses me with a book: “one thousand gifts”
A season changing.... Then along the sojourn of mothering, the Lord sends another friend to cross my path... This friend, limping along, in pain, is obviously sent my way to slow me down… to remind me once again that there is so much more to be thankful for. Sure enough, this friend who sometimes shares her pain, a reciprocal exchange, comes with blessings, with a “gift” to share....
This day, it's a tangible gift.... She blesses me with a book: “one thousand gifts”
Here again I’m re-introduced to thanksgiving’s life-long
partner… the partner I remember courting for myself, “Gratitude”…. Through
this book, this gift from a friend, Gratitude is resuscitated back into me.
This one little gift once again opens up my blurry eyes to the world around
me… I see the birds on my deck, and enjoy the color they bring the backdrop of
snow… instead of grumbling at the cold, I marvel at the crystals of ice
reflecting the sun, blue. Instead of
dwelling on the torn blue-jeans, I despise on my teen, my heart warms at the
sparkle in her eye, and the warmth of her smile.
Thankful and Grateful… Partners for Life. Thankful
and Grateful for every friend God crosses on my path… Thankful and Grateful for
every eye opening experience… Thankful and Grateful for every pain, that helps
me grow eternally… Thankful and Grateful for the rain, for the snow, for the beaten down
weary pathway… Thankful and Grateful dancing together in my mind... in the sunsets, through the storms, the calm, the breath on my face from my daughter's laughter.
Thankful for women like Ann Voskamp … a pig farmers wife,
with six kids, who “dares to live fully,” right where she is at. Thankful for my own six children who grow me….
my friends who aren’t afraid to be “real,” and share their pain, and accept
help sweeping it all back up into a pile of broken pieces, and a willingness to
restore.
Thank you dear friends, I am so thankful for you.. FULL of gratitude: GRATEFUL for you.
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