Priorities

I saw the above pic on one of my favorite blogs a while back;Oh Hello Friend. Oh, Oh no wait.. you thought I was saying hello? Well, Hello but, I wasn't just saying Hello up there that's just the name of the blog, it's called Oh Hello Friend. And I apologize for that very lame attempt to be funny.

Anyway, the blog Oh Hello Friend, It's a great, beautiful, happy space on the World Wide Web and it's author Danni, well she's just about as cute as they come. Really, if you haven't seen it yet, you should do your eyes a favor and head over there, but wait. Not yet.

I wanted to share something with you first, and then you can head over there.

The quote on the picture is of course what caught my eye. It made me stop. It made me pause. It made me Selah.

"You can do Anything, but you can't do Everything."

I believe we have found the theme slogan for recovering 12 step program offered to women, moms, really any "Type A" personality out there. You know who you are, those of you who have tried and failed to do it all. The  24/7 go, go, go group. Are you in that group? The group that has tried to do it all? Bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. The group that wants to say they CAN do anything and everything? Are you in denial still and don't even realize that you might need an intervention?

I can honestly say that I have never been in that camp. I am not a Martha, I am a Mary. It's easy for me to not do what needs to get done. In fact I have to work very hard to be disciplined and get the day to day things done, let alone the OCD-ish type of things. I'm not a list maker, goal setter, chart charty kinda gal. I need help to GET motiviated! Seriously, sometimes I wonder if I have a pulse. I am also dramatic,  also I tend to exaggerate, and I am also not in denial of these character traits. And I said also three times just now.

Somewhere along the lines though, my wires got crossed and there was a point in time where I would say "Yes" to just about anything and everything. To be honest those wires still can get tangled up from time to time(argh... I hate tangled wires don't you?) and I have to work hard to remember these life principles or phrases to get me untangled.  Many moons ago(prolly like 7 years ago) In Another life, this really great guy Jerry Cooks words of advice stuck and my priorities began to change. Do you want to know his words of advice were?  More than advice, I guess it too has become kind of a life phrase...

Here it is,  Listen Up... Sit up you don't want to miss this...


"If you say "yes" to one thing you are saying "no" to something or someone else."


(Btw, if you haven't read any of Jerry's books go do yourself a favor go right now... wait... No... go after you finish here, and pick them up you can thank me later)

Can you see why that phrase up there, changed my life?  Really. No joke. It makes me thankful that many moons ago I learned a few things, and that is that I don't know much, but what I do know is this;

To focus on what I really want to say yes to helps me learn how to say no.
I'm not a natural "NO" person.
Are you a natural "NO" person?
So you can see why this was an important life lesson to this people pleasing, non-confrontational, Eh-kinda gal, and I imagine if you are of the camp that says yes to more things than you should because you still think you can do it ALL, and you are still in denial of your issues, then I bet it would help you too.

It reminds me that I can do Anything, but I can't do Everything.


Which I guess can be summed up in one word.

This whole post could have just been one word.

Could you imagine me just posting one word?


Maybe with a picture like this;

Selah.

Linking up here, here, here and here.

Coffee Fast Is Over...

It's a funny thing, my fast from coffee ended yesterday and I think I had about 3 or 4 very good, very full cups of coffee, but here I sit today with a cup of Green Tea and one stevia. (My replacement drink of choice in the mornings)

Giving up coffee was not an easy fast for me.
I am still not entirely sure why I did it.?
I know I wanted to give up something for Lent that wouldn't have a dual purpose.
By that I mean, often times when I fast, to be quite honest I hope that it will help me lose weight.
I mean, I don't set out going "I am going to fast from sugar so I can lose weight!"
I definitely disguise my fasts with a much more spiritual expression as to why I am fasting from whatever it is.
So a true confession I am giving you here is that, when I fast from time to time to pray, seek God's wisdom, or for a friend or whatever the reason, deep down I think this will help me too!

Shocking I know, but there you have it!

But coffee never entered any of those categories.
In fact, I think I remember telling myself that I could never give up coffee.
It was like the one thing in my life I would never do.
When others would talk about not drinking coffee anymore I would actually feel bad for them.
As though they were missing out on something so precious in life, so wonderful, so essential... why would you ever give it up?

Well, here I sit on this gloriously rainy, perfect Washington morning and although I could have coffee I want Green Tea.

Huh? I didn't see that one coming!

Fasting I have learned over the years is more a matter of choice.

And how luxurious a life I lead that I GET the choice to FAST from anything!

If there is just one thing that I really took away from this Lent season it is that.
I have the choice to fast from food, drink, television, certain clothes(free trade), stores i will shop at, etc.

And what a gift that is.

Truly we (Americans especially) are saturated with choice.
It is a freedom, I know I have taken for granted over the years.

This Lent season helped me to realize that, and so much more and I am hoping I don't soon forget it.

If there is nothing else you have to be thankful, grateful for in your life today let it be that you have the choice to choose whether to drink coffee or tea, or clean water and be blessed by that alone.

Lent

I'll admit I haven't been a participator in this Lent tradition since I was a Catholic child who somewhat unwillingly participated, if at all!
I remember families giving up T.V., Sugary Treats, and a variety of other crazy talk happenings! I remember never really understanding a lot of things that were spiritual concepts back then, but one thing I did understand was that I didn't want to give up sugar right as I was selling Girl Scout cookies :)


Up until a year ago I thought the season of Lent was just another legalistic way of trying to take away from the greatest sacrifice ever made. A kind of earning your badges of being a good, better, best follower of Christ.

That was what I thought, until the church I was attending a year ago at this time had such a different take on this thing called Lent. They spoke of this time of preparation, remembering others who are suffering, sacrificing for a greater good, fasting from some things in order that other things might come in abundance, and just an over-all time to take note of your spiritual life. A time to take stock of your inventory as a Spiritual being, and prepare your house for the day of new life. New Beginnings. A kind of Spring cleaning spiritually. They inspired me to take a second look at this thing called Lent.



I remember coming home and sharing with the kids about the fact that I was inspired to do something for Lent, that it was a special time, and that I was going to give up sugar. At first they looked at me like I was crazy, eyes wide as saucers. At some point they too were all excited about this new found thing called Lent. They took an interest with mom and got on board until later that evening when Isaiah asked if he could have Hot Cocoa and I said, "Buddy that has sugar in it". He said without even a second thought, "Oh well I'm out" as though it was a game or something.
That was when I realized:
1) guess I am not that good of a teacher as I thought, and
B) it might have been too big a concept for a 5 year old to get, dunno?



So this year, I told my kids that Lent was coming, and told them what I was giving up. I gave up coffee(that's a blog post for another day), and
I didn't ask any of them if they wanted to join. But, to my surprise they all chimed in with what they were going to give up.
I think that I might have done a better job describing this Lent season to them. At least a little better than last year, because they are all still going strong with all of their fasts.(excluding Isaiah... refer to point 1. and B.)
I told them that usually people give something up, but also some people add some new good behavior or habit in place of what they gave up.


So as if I wasn't challenged enough already....

On top of participating in the traditional Lent Season of giving something up for six weeks, I had decided this year that I wanted to begin adding new challenges to my life.
The challenges I wanted to incorporate into my life are motivated by LOVE. After all, the greatest act of LOVE that the world has EVER seen is what we are preparing to remember and celebrate so what better time than this to take these; LOVE challenges.

Instead of doing this all at once, I have been giving myself one week challenges.
To me it seems more attainable to do things in one week increments.
Once one week is over if I have accomplished these goals and feel inspired to keep going with them, I do.
And then I add a new challenge.

There are about 3 weeks to go until Easter Sunday, and I can honestly say that this Lent season for me has already been pretty amazing. I have learned a lot about myself and what motivates me. I would like to think I am learning even more about this amazing God that I get to serve. I hope and pray that eventually I will be able to describe/teach about this Lent season thingy in such a way that even Isaiah will whole-heartedly get on board, but until then as I am learning I am confident that one day he will too. Because isn't it so true that you can't really teach something to another person unless you fully, completely, whole-heartedly get it yourself?

Dances With Wolves... and some deep thoughts with Me(LOL, that title just makes me laugh)

This past Sunday night we had the distinct pleasure of sharing with our Fab 4 the old movie Dances With Wolves starring and directed by Kevin Costner.
There were quite a few scene's that were of course not appropriate for all of our children, and therefore skipped through, but as a whole I thought that the movie was a good one to share with our kids.

While watching it, one of the things that Mo mentioned to the kids that I found so interesting, was the fact that the women were the ones who in many, if not most tribes, built the Tee Pee. She also had complete control over what went on in her Tee Pee, what came in or out of her Tee Pee, and she could even kick the man out of her Tee Pee if he didn't "bring home the bacon" so to speak!
I found this so intriguing.

I think for one, because general carpentry is not something that I do in this house. Outside of putting in an occasional light bulb or putting batteries in my children's toys, I leave the fixing and or building of things to my hubby.
So the notion that the women not only built the Tee Pee, but put it up as well was a foreign concept to me.

I also think I found it interesting because today you often hear phrases like;
"The woman is the heart of the home" or
"If momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy!"
So in a way I suppose you could say this is a cross cultural theme and an aged-old truth.

Either way, it made me then think about my home.
What have I allowed to go on in my home?
What have I promoted to be a good or bad thing in my home?
Who have I allowed to influence my home?

And also do I really need all this stuff ?
That question leads me to my other thought about Tee Pee Life.
Those families were on the move quite a bit.
The women I am sure were very careful about what kind of things they let become permanent fixtures in their homes because having the life of a nomad does not work well, with having the life of a pack rat!
They "traveled light" I am sure.

Finally, it made me remember one of the choices that my book club picked last year that I never got to thank them for choosing;
Daughters Of A Copper Woman

And then I read this, just this morning;

"Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands." Proverbs 14:1

Hmmm....

I want to be a woman that carefully builds my house.
And if I do tear it down may it only be for the purpose of moving with my family on to the next great adventure!

Livestrong

I have a yellow Livestrong bracelet on my wrist that I have been wearing for the past several weeks. It was given to me.

Every time I look at it I think what does that mean? So today, I am wondering what do you think those little yellow bracelet's mean? If you were to define a STRONG life what would it look like?

For me I think of every friend recently who has been touched by cancer in their life and I think about their bodies how tired and sore they must feel after chemo. I think about that and then it motivates me to shut up, and get up and get going!! It puts all my minor aches and pains into perspective. It also helps me to realize that this body that I have is a gift, on loan, and that I have been a terrible owner. I am thankful for this body that birthed 4 beautiful children and has lived through a lot in the past 34 years. 

Tell me what do you think it means to LIVESTRONG?

Small Groups

Well, I have successfully done it again folks. What's that you ask? What have I done again? Signed up for way too many small groups and my schedule suddenly got very, very full. As if it wasn't full already. Why do I do this to myself? They all just looked so fun I suppose, but then I start writing things down on the palms of my hands just so that I can remember where I am supposed to be tomorrow. Not to mention that this makes me wonder if I have already failed miserably at the whole People Pleasing resolution thingy. I have done great on the other 2 resolutions but, man alive, I don't even think I realize sometimes if I am pleasing the peeps or pleasing me, myself, and I. I feel pretty pleased :)
No, in all seriousness I love these groups that gather on a weekly basis and I am excited to be in each and everyone of the FOUR that I signed up for . I wanted to add one more to that but ya gotta know when to draw the line.

Walking into a Dark room

The other night I forgot something after youth group was over and it was in the big , dark, room up at our church. I knew walking into this room that is was dark and that it was also filled with many a chair, but that didn't stop me from barging on in looking for what I had left behind. About way halfway into the mangled mess of chairs I realized that I should probably go back and turn the lights on or I might be there for another few hours searching and wounding myself.
What struck me about this quick little scene played out in my life is that I didn't just turn the lights on in the first place. I don't know about everybody else but I so often know what I should do but often don't choose accordingly. I know I shouldn't eat after a 6p for good health but I do it anyway, I know I should excercise also for good health reasons but I don't, I know shouldn't stay up so stinking late when I have to get up early with kiddos but I do anyways, and so on and so forth, etc. etc. ......
Why don't I do what I know I should before I stumble and get hurt? Am I alone in this plight of stupidity or are there others of you out there who do the same thing and if so please share so that I don't feel alone. Oh yeah, and I am not calling you stupid if you do share this trait that would only be me :)

Always have time for a friend

This article was about a college professor who started his philosophy class by presenting his students with a large empty mayonnaise jar. He then proceeded to fill it with golf balls. "Is this jar full?" he asked his students. They nodded in agreement. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles under the table which he dumped into the jar, which he shook to allow the pebbles to roll into the open areas. "Is the jar full now?" he asked again. And again the students agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of sand, also from under the table, which he poured into the jar. The sand filled up what little space there was left. "Would you say the jar was now full?" he asked. The students responded with a loud "Yes!" This time they were really sure. The professor smiled and then produced two cups of coffee which he poured into the jar filling the empty spaces in the jar. When the professor announced that the jar was now full, the students laughed. The professor then told his students that the jar represents each one's life. The golf balls are the important things -- your God, your family, your health, your community, your friends -- whatever you consider to be the most important things in your life. "Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full," he said. The pebbles, on the other hand, represent the other things that matter to you such as your job, your house, perhaps your car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff -- like your computer, your cell phone, your HDTV, your DVDs, your shoes and clothes. If you pour the sand into the jar first, the professor told his students, then you won't have space for the golf balls and the pebbles. "If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff," he said, "then you will never have room for the things that are truly important to you." The professor told his students to pay attention to the things that are "truly critical to your happiness." You should make time to spend with their family, he said. You should go on vacations together. You should take time to get your medical check-ups. Play golf or tennis or go swimming at the YMCA. There will be time enough to clean the house or buy another shirt or skirt. "Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." As his words sank in to his students, one of them raised her hand and asked the professor "What about the cups of coffee?" "I'm glad you asked," he said. "It just goes to show that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room to share a cup of coffee with a friend."
I just thought this was really great and very true. Thought I would share it with my bloggin friends.

Old Friends and New Friends

Had a great time this week connecting with some friends. I am truly grateful for all the friends that God has brought into my life over the years. One of my friends that I've known since I was a teenager moved back from Oregon recently and hanging out with her is like hanging out with family. Another new friend that I got to hang with this week blessed me tremendously with new ideas and a fresh way to look at some things in my life.
Then I had a question for all you bloggers that I think will be kinda fun. I am a person who loves to have people around 24/7. Maybe that's why I have 4 children. Anyway, even if I am not necessarily doing anything with them but just living my life, I just enjoy sharing my life with others. BUT part of being a person who loves to have others persons around 24/7 is that I have really crappy time-management skills. I would rather just sit and chit chat or play with kids then do the things in life that need to be done.
SO here's the question: Can you be a person who has both good time manangment skills as well as good people skills at the same time??
This is a honest question because to me I don't see how you can. I would rather say no to the clock and pretend that it's not there than say no to a person who might need something or my kids who just want to play.
I need better time-management skills. I think that the two are somewhat related. What do you all think?? Maybe, it's a matter of priorities. Priority to me are the people in my life.