30 before 30: First Accomplishment!

Well, this is an embarrassing picture (below), but I'm going to show you anyway...

This is the before picture of my "catch all pile" on my kitchen counter. One of the items on my 30 before 30 list was to "figure out some type of 'working' organization system for the clutter that always gathers on the kitchen counter."

Check! Done!

I never thought this would be the first item crossed off my list, but oh does it feel good to get that mess out of sight, and organized! Look at my beautiful, clean counter! I decided that to break our habit of piling stuff there that I would have to place something else in the now empty space. I moved the cookbook stand over as if to say, "Nope this spot is taken, put your stuff where it goes!"

And this is where it all goes...the inside of the pantry door. I got these nifty organizers, one for me, one for Derek. Now there is a place for everything...chargers, books, notebooks, receipts, checkbooks, keys, even hats!

I printed out letters to personalize each organizer...oddly that may have taken just as much time as it did to clear out all the junk mail. Ooops.

I realize that there is a limit to how much stuff these organizers can hold...the trick is going to be going through and clearing out every so often. 

 

What I am hoping is that it gives each of us a place for the everyday items...the book you are reading, the list you are making, the mail that needs to go out, the sunglasses and keys...etc. Things that get used so much that they never quite have a "home." Well now they do!

 

The best part about the whole thing??? You can just shut the pantry door, and voila...a clean kitchen!(Well, just don't look over at the sink...wink.)

1 down, 29 more things to do!

Joy

taken in the butterfly house at the zoo...

Have you ever watched a butterfly fly?

They have such a bouncy, up and down, fluttering, dance-like motion...they don't swoop, or soar like a bird. They may have a desired destination but you would never know what it is by the way it flies. I watched a really large butterfly dart into our open garage today. It seemed confused, and disoriented by the suddenly limited space. It never stopped flying around, but it started to circle and almost frantically look for a way out. Perhaps it was simply exploring, maybe it really knew what it was doing the whole time, maybe it wasn't stressed at all. Yet, I couldn't help but notice when it finally found it's way out, how quickly it returned to it's normal, graceful, beautiful flight pattern. It was as if for a moment the garage had messed up its rhythm and it could no longer dance. Then, as it returned to the open expanse of the sky, where it was made to fly, it could once again hear the notes it was dancing to. It took off with renewed passion and elegance as it quickly fluttered across our yard, over the neighbor's house and out of sight.

I feel like I can relate to that butterfly caught in a garage. Sometimes I feel like I too have lost my rhythm and have forgotten how to dance. I keep on flying, circling, trying to find my way...but the joy is gone.

There are many challenging verses in scripture so I'm not sure that I can say that this is THE MOST challenging, but boy does it get me thinking...

1 Thessalonians 5:16 says:

"Be joyful always..."

It's short. It's easy to memorize....there's even a little Sunday school song that I usually start humming and clapping along to in my head....

But seriously, what a command! Not be joyful when everything is going great. Not be joyful when our lives are going just as we planned. Not be joyful when everyone else was nice to us that day. Not be joyful when we get our way. Not be joyful when................you fill in the blank. Be joyful ALWAYS.

But what about when there is no joy? What about when we are caught in a garage? What about when we can no longer hear the dancing and the singing, and we've lost our joy?

Be joyful always.

I guess I really have to stop writing here, because I don't have an answer to this one. I have no idea how to be joyful always. There are so many things in this world that try to steal our joy. There are so many situations that are joyless. But all I know is that joy is bigger than our circumstances. Joy is bigger than that garage you may find yourself in. Joy can be found in brokenness, in loneliness, in sadness, in disappointment.

James 1:2-4 says:

 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

 The word consider gives me some help...it tells me that it is about my perspective. I have a choice to consider the trial pure joy. I have to choose to be joyful always. And look at the result! Perseverance....maturity....completeness.....not lacking anything....essentially JOY! We soon will find ourselves back where we are meant to be, where we were created to fly, where our heavenly Father designed us to dance to the rhythm he gave us. And like the butterfly with renewed passion, and elegance we learn to be joyful always.

Night Owl

I've been staying up so late the last couple of nights. Boy, has it been terrible the next morning...pretty near impossible to drag myself out of bed. Yet, I think I am really craving time that is just for me. I'm usually "piddling" on the computer, facebook, photoshop, etsy, craigslist....or the last two nights Derek and I actually sat and played a game together. We haven't done that in so long!

Have you played Bananagrams? You may have seen it in Borders, or Target...it comes in a little zipper pouch shaped like a banana...cute I know! There are a bunch of little tiles, much like scrabble, you have to build words. It has been so refreshing. Just to play. Just to be together. Just to sit and do what I want to do, with the only person I want to be with. It has truly been a treat.

I know I can't keep this up, and at some point it may make more sense to get up early in the morning for some alone time. But this week, my inner night owl has enjoyed the later hours. Are you a night owl or an early bird? When do find time just for you?

Blueberry Picking

Some of my favorite pictures from this summer are of blueberry picking at a farm in New Hampshire.

The berries were just literally falling of the branches. And there were rows and rows of bushes.

They were so big....and blue!!!!

Caroline was an expert berry picker....

Though she only picked enough for one blueberry muffin...

She had such concentration, and focus...

Ben was an expert berry eater!

And he loved the space to run around...what a face!

And when we had picked enough berries, there was always the sand in the driveway to play in.

And Lazy Susans to capture.

and pick...

And the sign....

A perfect background...

it was a lovely adventure.

30 before 30

Those of you who know me well might roll your eyes when you see this list, because you know that I am NOT particularly a details kind of gal...and though I'm never short of ideas....getting those ideas, goals, dreams...whatever they may be, done is not always easy for me. Some people can plow through a list, getting everything accomplished in a timely fashion. Others of us...well we "go at our own pace."

Regardless, I got this idea from a cute blog that I follow Making it Lovely. She has a similar list, in fact there are few things on her list that I have on my list too...(sew a dress...photo organization...a cute family photo).

I have a little over 6 months to get my list done. I am perfectly content to leave some of my list for a new decade of my life, however I thought it would be fun to see how many I can get done while still in my 20's.
I tried to pick mostly things that fit into one or more of following categories:

1. things that are enjoyable to me...ok, just plain fun (2,23,25)
2. things I have loved to do in the past and have not done lately (1,3,11)
3. things that will strengthen relationships that are important to me (5,13,26,30)
4. things I have always wanted to do and have not yet done (4,7,8)
5. things that are realistic and will make life better (10,24,28)

 
In no particular order.....

1. Read a whole novel.
2. Visit the Biltmore Estate (expensive) OR the Virginia Creeper (free)
3. Summit a mountain (basically go hiking but that didn't sound as spectacular.)
4. Sew a pillow case dress for C.
5. Finish my devotional book Jesus: 90 Days with The One and Only-Beth Moore.
6. Have a great family photo made.
7. Finish C's first year scrapbook (I know...super overdue).
8. Make a photo book of B's first year.
9. Organize all photos on the back up hard drive thingy.
10. Figure out some type of "working" organization system for the clutter that always gathers on the kitchen counter.
11. Start needle felting again.
12. Finish a crocheting project...maybe something new now that I've conquered the hat :)
13. Watch the entire Lord of the Rings extended version with my hubby...not in one sitting of course. (We did that a few Christmases ago...so fun!)
14. Commit to memory 30 verses of scripture...note cards here I come!
15. Make all my mom's recipes from my childhood that I copied last spring.
16. Be at church...like sitting down in the service...at 9:30 on Sunday mornings.
17. Have a yard sale. Cha-ching!
18. Get my Christmas shopping done early...oh, I'm scared!
19. Get a jewelry box/or some type of storage system for jewelry.
20. Try (again) to take the family camping this Fall....
21. Organize my "craft" area in the laundry room.
22. Borrow from and return books to the Library ON TIME.
23. Attend a concert with my hubby.
24. Create and maintain an area in the garage and in the backyard where the kids can play.
25. Buy a pair of heels.
26. Spend a morning with my friend Katie without our adorable children ;)
27. Do "something" with my pictures from the mission trip to Romania this summer.
28. Make walking and drinking water more a part of my everyday.
29. Write to Pravine, the little boy in India our family sponsors.
30. Have a weekend get-a-way with my hubby...sans kiddos.

Let the fun begin....I wonder which one will get done first??? I'll keep you posted.

Psalm 46

God Is Our Fortress

[TO THE CHOIRMASTER. OF THE SONS OF KORAH. ACCORDING TO ALAMOTH. A SONG.]

     God is our refuge and strength,
        a very present help in trouble.
      Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
        though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
     though its waters roar and foam,
        though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

     There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
        the holy habitation of the Most High.
     God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
        God will help her when morning dawns.
      The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
        he utters his voice, the earth melts.
   The LORD of hosts is with us;
        the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

    Come, behold the works of the LORD,
        how he has brought desolations on the earth.
      He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
        he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
        he burns the chariots with fire.
      “Be still, and know that I am God.
        I will be exalted among the nations,
        I will be exalted in the earth!”
     The LORD of hosts is with us;
        the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

 (Psalm 46 ESV)

The Way of Love

Love is patient, love it kind. 
I've been meditating on this lately as I seek to mother my little ones well. It is so simple, and easy to remember and as I've thought about it, I've realized that this verse can guide me in just about any situation I find myself in.

If I am frustrated...let's say I'm running late, and my phone is missing, and so are all the kid's shoes, and the diaper bag is without its most important component--diapers and I just can't seem to corral the kids into their carseats fast enough...love is patient. Or maybe I am reminding my child for the eighth time that day not to climb on the accident-waiting-to-happen fireplace hearth...love is kind.

It is a guideline for both how I am to act towards my family members (and anyone for that matter) as well as how I am to respond when my family members have not acted towards me in the way that I would like. It reminds me to be kind in the ways that I act, and patient in the ways that I react.

After all, if I read the entire passage. If I don't have love, I am just a noisy gong or clanging cymbal...sadly I know there are days when this is all I've been...just noise, noise, noise (The Grinch).

I truly love my children all day, everyday, no matter what, but as Dr. Tim Kimmel points out in his book Grace Based Parenting, a person would be pretty hard pressed to find a parent anywhere who says they don't love their kids...yet there is a more important kind of love that we must give our kids...a secure love--a love that doesn't come from mustering up enough sentiment or just muscling through the hard times. Paul makes it clear that I can put forth all this effort, "move mountains...give away all I have...deliver up my body to be burned," but if I have not love, love from the Father,"God's Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love"( from The Jesus Storybook Bible), than "I am nothing...I gain nothing."

If I want to be a good mom...and I do! I so do!..

Than...

love is patient, kind
love does rejoice with the truth, bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things
love does not envy, boast, insist on its own way, rejoice at wrongdoing,
love is not arrogant, rude,
love never ends.

The Way of Love
     If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
     Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. [Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 
1 Corinthians 13:1-8a ESV