Category Archives: General

Overwhelmed and frustrated

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I felt overwhelmed last night.

When I picked the twins up from school, Sadie hugged me and said I was the best Momma ever.  When we got home, she threw down on the front porch and had a fit.  I wasn’t the best Momma ever anymore. 🙂

Caleb does all of his homework on Monday nights.  And it takes all. night. long.  Not fun.

My house is a wreck and it’s driving me nuts!

Etc.

When it was the kids’ bed time, I was done.  And of course they were not easy to put down.  They kept getting up.  They used every stall tactic in the book.  So I was frustrated.

This morning, I could not get them to get up and get ready.  We were pressed for time and they would just not move!

Again, I was frustrated.

When we got into the parking lot at my son’s school, it was time for a little pow-wow.

I apologized for the fact that I had been so frustrated with them last night and this morning, but I also let them know that they are going to have to help me out.  We are going to have to get better about bed times, mornings, picking up after ourselves, not being so loud all the time, being nice to each other, etc.  Especially since Chris is at school 3 nights a week and is pretty much busy the rest of the time.

We’re in a crazy period in our lives.  I’ve learned to let many things go, so I don’t feel overwhelmed too often.  But when I do, the little things that the kids do frustrate me more than ever.  And I don’t like being frustrated at them.

So after I apologized for being so frustrated, Sadie immediately said “It’s OK Momma!  God is with you!”

Aww!  Yay!  Parenting win!

It was super sweet and cute for a few seconds, and then I was like “Thank you, Sadie!   You are right!  God is always with us and I don’t have to be frustrated.  But still!!  You guys have got to help me out!”

Here’s to hoping we have an easier night tonight!  And here’s to a God who is always with us!

How you know you’re losing your mind

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– You’re in the grocery store in the cheese section.  You call your husband to see if you need more mozzerella.  He says yes.  You say OK.  You get about 5 other cheeses and don’t realize you plumb forgot the mozzerella until you get home!

– You have a long history of driving away from the gas pump without putting the gas cap back on so you have to pull over to fix it.

– You are running late one morning and while you’re getting things out of the pantry you knock stuff over and scream, “I don’t have time for all of these fallings!!” Then your husband laughs at you for years. Years!!

True stories.

That is all for now. 🙂

Reading the Bible

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I grew up in a Baptist church full of wonderful people. (I almost literally grew up there. We were there every time the doors were open and many times when they weren’t.)

My family now attends a Church of Christ church.

Both traditions love the Bible. They encourage their members to read and study the Bible so they really know and understand it and in turn know and understand God. They are both beautiful in their love for God’s Word.

Growing up, I thought that if I wasn’t reading the Bible from end to end in a year, I was sinning. So I read it like crazy. Really, it would take me about 18-months to read it most of the time. It’s a long book! 😀

As an adult, I have still felt like if I wasn’t reading 2-5 chapters a day, I was a Christian failure!

But recently, a friend helped me out. She encouraged me to just pick one verse to think about for awhile. And any time that I feel the need to read scripture, I go back to this verse.

Right now my verse is:

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. – 1 Corinthians 13:7

It’s been freeing to just think about, reflect on and sit with this one verse.

I don’t know how long I’ll be on this verse, but it’s been a good thing for me. I’m thankful for the chance to constantly learn different ways of interacting with God and his Word. And I’m thankful that it is living, breathing and impactful any way you read it!

Hi, I’m Stephanie and I have a problem

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I knew I had a problem. It’s been getting worse. I’ve always denied it, but it’s been there lurking in the shadows growing slowly.

And today it snuck up on me and slapped me in the face!

I got an email that had 5 resolutions that you could choose from for the year.

The catch was that you could only choose one.

I wanted to do them all!

My problem is that I have a problem saying “no”.

I don’t say no to others very well, but the main problem is that I really can’t say no to myself!!

There are always so many fun things I’d like to try. So many things that seem like they’d be really good to do. Things to help others. Things to plan for the future.

So many options! And I want to do them all!

But they eat away at my time and my energy. I simply don’t have time for it all. And definitely not to do it all well.

The funny thing to me was that “Take care of yourself” was one of the resolutions in the email.

I stink at that! Seriously!

If I’m smart, I should probably say no to all other things on the list as well as many things not on the list and just focus on that one thing…taking care of myself. Not allowing Stephanie to wear herself out so much.

Anybody else have this problem?

Where do you see Jesus in your day?

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Recently, a friend suggested that I take time at the end of my day to ask myself “Where did I see Jesus today?”

At night, I climb in my bed, snuggle under the covers and let myself think back over my day. (On the nights that I remember. No guilt is allowed if I forget!) 🙂

Most nights at least one thing pops into my mind almost immediately.

I don’t write these down. I just reflect on how I saw Jesus and silently celebrate His presence.

There have been a few times where the thing that popped into my mind included something that happened with someone else. And when I’ve taken the time to share with the other person that I saw Jesus through something they said or did, it has been very special.  Who doesn’t like hearing that Jesus was seen in them?

I’ve always known God was working in my life and in others’ too. I just haven’t been that great at looking for it on a daily basis.

But now that I’m starting to look for it more, I am learning to expect it.  I’ve realized over the last week that I have begun noticing His presence more during my day.  I still reflect on it at night, but I’m getting better at noticing Him in the middle of my day.

Most of the time, it comes in the smallest things.

I see Jesus in conversations with friends.

I see Jesus in my husband dancing silly. Really any time I see him happy.

I see Jesus when I laugh so hard I cry.

I see Jesus when my kids play nice together. 🙂

God is with us. There is evidence of his presence in our lives everywhere.

We…I just have to look for it.

Where do you see Jesus in your day?

2014 Goals Recap, 2015 Goal(s)

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I’ve never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions.  But last year, I joined Jon Acuff’s 30 Days of Hustle group with mainly one goal in mind: I would make some books for my 3-year-old twins.  By about January 15th, I had that crossed off my list and was able to get a few other things crossed off my list for the year too:

  • Try my hand at painting art – didn’t happen
  • Learn to sew – One project  –DONE!
  • Paint my kitchen cabinets – DONE!
  • Put together family photo albums from over the years – still would be nice, but no
  • Get more organized overall – Not sure this really happened, but we just did a big purge over Christmas break, so I’m counting that!
  • Write my certification paper – This HAS to happen over the next few months!  I will get this done, I will get this done, I will get this done…

I guess on this list, the certification paper has to go near the top.

But I’ve decided that my main goal for the year will be…drum roll, please!…

Have 100 people over for dinner during the year

The major introvert in me cringes at this.  But the older I get, I realize just how important community is.  And at just how awesome people are!

Now I need to plan my first dinner.  And friends, if you want to come over, let me know!  We’ll make it happen!

This year I hope to make new friends, enjoy old friends, eat good food, share tons of stories, play some games, and laugh a lot.

This idea isn’t about entertaining.  For me, this is about community.  Friends, when you come over, our house may not be the cleanest, most picked up or organized (I have 3 young kids and no time for that! 🙂  This is about getting to know others, being real and just enjoying each other.

Here’s to 2015!  I hope you accomplish all your goals this year!  I hope it’s your best year yet!  But more than anything, I hope that we all learn to love and enjoy each other more this year!

Happy New Year!

– Stephanie

P.s. Oh, and I just signed up for a half marathon in a few months, so there’s that too! 🙂