Thankfulness

I was awoken yesterday morning by the sun and these words:

Good Morning Lord

Thank you for the sun

Thank you for the day that has only just begun

Thank you for my life

Thank you for my strife

Thank you for my family

For they mean so much to me

Thank you for each day

Thank you for showing me the Way

Thank you for your Son

Forgive me for all I've done

Thank you for Your power

Thank you for each hour

Thank you for this man

Thank you for this land

Thank you for each smile

I pray that I get to enjoy them awhile

Thank you for this pain

Thank you for the rain

Thank you for these words

Thank you for the birds

Thank you for the stars

Thank you for the cars

Thank you for this food

Thank you for this mood

Thank you for the life

Help me to be a better wife

Thank you for the songs

So that we may sing along

and praise You.

The Last Day of the Challenge

Today is the last day of the 31 day Blog Challenge. I started wracking my brain as to how I wanted to end this adventure. What have I learned. Who have I met. What I'm doing different.Where I'm going to go from here.

Those are all deep and pondersome questions. I'm not feeling that deep right now.

I really enjoyed having to be accountable for making sure that I shared something new every day. It made me more willing to share more, think more, write more.

I am amazed at how much my life has changed in these last couple of years. Something is steering me to go down a certain path. It looks very scary. And to borrow a quote from a lovely lady I've met this year, " I always take the high road. The low road is way too crowded." (You can find her here... http://christythewriter.com/)

This next school year is going to be a challenge for us all. My hubby changed jobs, therefore, we are waking up at 330A to get him ready for work and spend time together. Then I spend the next couple of hours cleaning, writing, spending time doing what I want to without distractions. Then come the school year, I'll be getting two of the three ready for full day of school. This means new challenges for the both of them, along with homework. It also means a new challenge for me and the tiny girl. She wants to do everything that her sisters do. She told me at the end of last year that she was going to be in second grade next year (she's 3).


I'm glad to have met many moms who have been down this part of the path that I have begun to walk down. I'm also glad to have met many teachers and homeschoolers who share wonderful ideas to keep my tiny genius busy. I have also met many writers who inspire me and show me that I don't need to be perfect for people to enjoy my writing. The only thing I need to do is to keep writing my best and people will read it.


It's like that giant question that everyone has asked at some point in their life, "How do they do it?" You just keep on keeping on and do your best to get it done. Don't be afraid to say that you need help....and then go to find it. 


This is the path that I am taking and I am glad to have been a part of this challenge and to see all the wonderful assortment of people and thoughts out there. Also to see how just a simple word can change a person's day (sometimes all it may take is a picture).

Random thoughts

Here's what's on my mind this morning.

My anniversary is on Monday. 8 fantastic years. Ok, they weren't all fantastic. What to get my hubby that he will enjoy and won't just become another thing in the house? It's bronze and pottery or linen and lace. Completely stumped by that one. I may just use my craftiness and make him something small and write him something beautiful that he can keep forever and our grandkids will be touched by how skilled a writer their grandma was and how loving and thoughtful she was and how much they wish they could be more like me.
Ok...enough of the ego boosting. I did start writing something. And if I feel brave enough, I may just share it. All I really want is to spend some time with him without the kids. Even if it's just going to get some ice cream together or going for a walk. Just do something simple. Because that is me.

The other thing on my mind is my cousin's wedding. My girls absolutely adore this lady. When we were kids we would spend a weekend together every summer at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Just the two of us (I have a sister and she has 2). She is getting married in September and I am wracking my brain trying to decide what to get her. They just bought a house this summer, so the ideal gift would be a gift card to help her finish the remodel. But I want to do something special for her.
Here's what I've been pondering....and how the two topics connect.

I have come to realize these past couple of years that marriage isn't just a thing. It's not like your name or your clothes. It is truly more like a job than anything else in this world. It takes effort on both parts to make it work. It takes hard work and understanding (I know I've heard that somewhere before).

The thought really hit me about a month ago. What I really need to do with this realization is write down these "ah-ha" thoughts about marriage so that my girls will know what I've learned and then maybe it'll help them with their marriages and relationships. Maybe I can give them a little something that I never got (sorry mom, I still love you). I found a journal at the local thrift shop...a journal that goes with The Power of a Praying Wife. In this book, I started writing down those "ah-ha" moments as they occur to me.

To connect it all together...
I was was thinking about creating a little book for my cousin on the thoughts I have collected. And I was thinking about sharing some of those same insights with my hubby in the anniversary letter. Good stuff?

Here's why a took a moment to write all of this....I would like your help. What have you found to be the "ah-ha" moment in your marriage. Something simple. Like..."it helps to have the counters clean, it makes everyone feel better and it's easier to get stuff done"...ok, with that my mind took it to the newlywed aspect and the long married aspect...love those kind of thoughts.

Ok, back from being distracted. Please feel free to add your bit of wisdom, you never know who you're going to help. Thanks for listening and now back to my sick little monkey (tummy ache and a fever).

PS...This is what inspired some of these thoughts today...http://theromanticvineyard.com/2011/07/21/water-into-wine-proverbs-11/

What to Write on a Sunday?

My hubby and I got some bonus time together this week because my mother-in-law took our girls for 3 whole days (bet she has been enjoying the last 24 hours of silence). He sweetly invited me to take a drive with him to Menards (a local form of Home Depot only better). Ever since we bought our house and started remodeling it 6 years ago, we have been taking our date time to Menards. It's really not so bad. Get to hang out with my guy doing something he enjoys doing and I am not bored out of my mind doing it...also accomplishes getting things done that I would like done.

Our trip to Menards this week was to build a fireman's pole for the girls new playground that he's building in our yard. On our drive down we got to talking about the blogging challenge that I signed up for this month. I don't have a set idea for writing on Sunday because it seems like such a meaningful day. I asked him what he thought I should write about. It's always fun seeing what's wandering around in his brain.

His first response was to write about how people treat strangers better than their own family. He think I should dig into that idea and maybe initiate a revolution in gaining the family back at the center of our own lives. My response was that I wrote something kind of like that about how we've lost our neighborhoods. He said that he's been working on that; having conversations with our neighbors.

His second response was a red Trailblazer. Just because that's what drove past us down the road. I chimed in that we could go test drive a car every Saturday and then write a review on Sunday about it. He liked that idea. He wants to go and test drive a Camero.  Probably not going to happen with three girls still in booster and carseats.

This led him to ask me if I really enjoy writing and if I see it as something I would like to do to earn a living someday. This from the man who gave me a journal for our first Christmas that had an inscriptions saying, "I know that you will write a fantastic book someday. Here's a place to start your ideas." That was 7 years ago.

I guess time will tell. And this is what I write for Sunday. Thanks for traveling with us.

My 100th Post

Ok...so it's more than the 100th but I deleted some of them. So this is the official 100th post in case you want to go and count the current ones.

What does one do with this immense post? Do I write about the state of the world? The state of my house? The state of my mind? The state of my girls? The state of my grass? What state I'm in?

Too much pressure for a simple outlet of all of the things tumbling through my mind...ah ha! The perfect topic. Writing.

I LOVE WRITING.

I believe everyone should do it even if it is only your simple thought of the moment or what you did today. There is so much therapy in writing. I don't think I can tell you just how long I have been writing for myself. I was never able to find that obscure person to write to. I would write fabulous emails and letters and I hammered through my journals like they were water. But to sit down and write to a person or an idea of a person that I did not know...could not wrap my mind around that.

Until one women's retreat. I had quite a few ladies tell me that the things that come out of my mind definitely need to be put into a book and that they would buy a copy for all of their friends. So I started collecting topics...with the image of the mom that's like me. She's bombarded daily from every aspect of her life. The mom that some days feels as though she has lost herself in this world of raising children. The woman that feels as though she is only a glorified housekeeper on other days. The woman that feels eternally blessed on yet other days. The woman who feels that she is all alone...as well as the one who wishes she could just have a moment alone. The woman who is having a hard time understanding and the next moment wishes that she didn't understand at all.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. The thoughts that tumble through my head astound and amaze me most days. So I started this blog building on the idea that started 2 years ago. Sitting on the front porch with women that you knew would never betray you. Being able to pour out your soul to them and know that if you got it trampled that you probably deserved it. Drinking wine and collecting the random sentence that makes you smile and sparks a thousand thoughts by just reading it again.

So this is where I am starting my book. This is where I am collecting my thoughts. This is what I am going to leave behind. You never know what's going to happen tomorrow, much less in the next minute. Leave someone something to let them know who you really are. Reading someone else's thoughts gives you an insight into that person that a conversation never will.

A Visit between pen and paper.

Long time no see.                              

Yes, it has been quite a day huh?

What’s on your mind today?

Snowflakes.

Really? And why is that?

Feeling a little down. Had a few tears. Looked out the window and…snowflakes. God had taken my burden and is shedding the tears for me.

Very profound thought. What if it hadn’t been snowing?

Would have had to pray more.                                                

Hmm…what if you’d prayed it all out?

I either wasn’t listening to the answer or I know the answer already and just need to get off my duff and do something about it.

Well, looks to me like there won’t be any excessive duff moving today.

At least not for our own benefit. Maybe for our acceptance points. But definitely not a lot of doing things to make us feel good.

Here’s a profound thought.

What’s that?

Would placing ink from inside me onto you be a form of…release…either waste release or pleasure release or puking?

I guess that would depend on the words that the ink formed on my page. But yes, a very profound thought. I am a place for you to release yourself. For you to let your inner light shine. Fo ryou to express your true self and not be afraid of what comes out.

Like those thoughts. Makes me feel even more at peace.