Category Archives: General

5 observations I had over Thanksgiving break

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Time with family is precious to me, and I eat it up! As we were hanging out, traveling between family Thanksgivings, and as the kids were getting banned to their rooms because they couldn’t play nice for the forty-fifth time, I found myself reflecting on some things last week:

1. My kids like to push on my belly. After being home with my kids a few days, I started noticing that my kids think it’s fun to press on my belly. I think they think it feels cool. All soft and squishy. Nice! But I kind of felt like the Pillsbury doughboy, so that madness had to stop! 🙂 In fact, the kids had just seen a video of the Pillsbury doughboy doing his laughing thing when poked so maybe they were trying to get a giggle out of mom. There were no giggles. 🙂

2. I forgot my swimsuit!!! We had reserved a room in a hotel one night for the sheer fact that it had an indoor pool. The kids were stoked! In packing for the trip, I made sure everyone else had their swimsuits. Then on the morning we were supposed to swim, I woke up and realized I didn’t pack my own swimsuit…or extra underwear, but we won’t talk about that! I did a great job packing for everyone else! The only thing I can think of was that I thought so much about swimsuits that I seriously thought I had packed mine. The kids still had a great time at the pool and got to climb all over dad. And I got to relax by the pool and smile at my family, so all wasn’t lost.

3. I never sleep well in a hotel. It seems so fun to go to a hotel. I always think I’m going to be so relaxed and rested. And then I can’t sleep. It’s such a bummer!

4. I feel the most vulnerable in life when one of my kids is sick. And I feel a million more times vulnerable when they are sick over holidays or weekends when it’s nearly impossible to get into a doctor. And really, those seem to be the only times my kids get sick. They’re gifted that way. 🙂

5. I don’t get embarrassed very easily anymore. As stated above, one of my kids got sick right before we sat down to eat lunch at my Grandmother’s house. Of course, my kiddo and I were a complete mess and I had not brought extra clothes. We typically can get through one meal without having to change clothes. Not this day! I stood in my Grandmother’s kitchen paralyzed in wondering what in the world we were going to do when my family started jumping into action. My Grandmother went to get me some of her clothes to wear. My dad ran home and got my son some pj’s they had at their house as well as some of my mom’s clothes for me. I went into the laundry room, changed clothes and emerged like this…

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The teenage Stephanie would have been mortified to wear this. The adult Stephanie stood in the laundry room cracking up and couldn’t wait to show everyone…and take pictures…and post it to social media! I love this change in myself! I love that no matter what gets thrown my way, I can always find something to laugh at.

Life is pretty funny!

Words Matter

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We try to teach our kids to be polite.  To ask for things nicely.  To be positive.  Have good attitudes.  To be thankful.

And then kids grow up and send emails! 🙂

Lately, I’ve noticed how words in emails affect me and how they have the power to so quickly change my attitude (for the good or the bad).

If the email comes across as a little pushy, it can kind of tick me off.

If an email is nice and polite, it endears me to the person.

Emails with even a hint of rudeness put me in a serious funk.

Words of thanks or encouragement go a long way and make me want to go above and beyond….

Except for all those thousands of thank you emails from vendors at Thanksgiving. Those kind of whip me. 🙂

Words matter.

But more importantly, people matter.

It’s scary to think about how much power just one email can have. And with every word we say and every email we send, we make a choice of how we will treat others. We can choose to leave a good impression or a make negative one.

Words matter. People matter. Emails matter. Choices matter.

Waiting

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Lately, I feel like my life is a series of periods of waiting on God. Waiting for an answer. Waiting for clarity. Waiting and listening. Gut wrenching, soul-searching, waiting.

Anybody with me on this?

Saturday morning, my mom sent me the Bible verse “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Ps. 27:14

I wrote about this not long ago.

Below is an excerpt from an email that I replied back to my mom:

“It seems like life is a series of times of waiting on God. Seems like we’re always waiting on something. Constantly waiting to hear what he wants us to do next. At least that’s how I feel. It’s nice to know he’s in control because I don’t feel like I’m in control of anything. So I wait. But the thing is, he is faithful and good in the bad times, in the good times and in the waiting.”

I’m not sure I’ll ever really like waiting. In fact, I know I won’t.  I’m a girl who likes action.  I like to have a plan in place.  I like answers and certainty.  But now, after being given so many chances to wait, it doesn’t bother me as much anymore. I have learned that God is truly with me. He’s always been there with me. I trust him.  And things may not go how I want them to go. (They already haven’t time and time again.) But I know that no matter what, I will have God’s love and presence. And that makes the waiting more bearable.

I have also learned that there is beauty in the waiting.  There is beauty in not having all the answers.  Beauty in giving up control and realizing you have to rely on someone else.

There is a whole heck of a lot of beauty in the moments of stillness.  In the quiet emptiness (however long it is) before God answers.

There is beauty in the searching.  In the asking.  In the pleading.

I believe God thinks times of waiting are beautiful too.  They are some of the times that mold, shape and transform us the most in life.  They are the times that I have clung to God and been close to him.  They aren’t fun, but they are precious times.

Our church is about to start an Advent class, and I’m excited. The waiting of Advent gives me a renewed sense of hope.  I’m excited to wait in anticipation. Wait with hope. With longing for the Son of God. That tiny baby who loves and saves us all.

Just wait.

Letter to my old pair of jeans

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Dear old pair of jeans that finally fell apart and had to go to the big jeans drawer in the sky,
I still mourn for you, dear friend.
I look for you in my drawer, but you are not there. I look for you in the washer and dryer and am reminded of my loss.
You came into my life after the birth of my first child over 8 years ago. We went on lots of adventures together. Some good, some bad.
You were a faithful friend that seemed to fit like a glove more and more each time we hung out. Eight years are a long time!
I went to the store to find a new jeans friend, and let me tell you!  You are not easily replaced!  Finding new jeans is the worst. It made me miss you all the more!
But alas!  I will move on.  In fact, I already have.
Just know you are missed.
Rest in peace/pieces, my friend!
Love, Stephanie

Not the parent!

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One of the biggest issues I’m facing with my kids right now is that my oldest son seems to think he’s a parent to the 2 three year olds. They’ll do something he thinks/knows is not right, and he feels the need to take care of the problem.

But the thing is…he’s 8 years old! And definitely not a parent!

Granted, he is a huge help with the younger kids. But still! Not their parent!

And more often than not, when he tries to act like the parent, things get worse.

After having a conversation with him the other day about this very thing, I thought to myself that it’s not just him. I’ve been known to do this too!

We think we know what’s best for others. We think we have the answers. We think we have a responsibility to step in and make things right. We just start talking when we really should keep listening (or not talk at all!). And often, we just make things worse.

So now that I’m thinking more about this, I’m trying to listen more, pray more, understand more, etc. before I act.

Oh the things we learn from our kids!

When God Surprises You

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This morning, I woke up frustrated about everything that I needed to get done this week.  I sat in my recliner last night and wished that I could just stop everything I have going.  I dreamed of what it would feel like to have no responsibilities, deadlines, etc. for a while.

Then in staff meeting this morning, we did our normal scripture reading at the beginning of the meeting and….BAM!!  God spoke to me and I was like “Crap, God!!  You’re not letting me off the hook!  Of any of this mess!”

But I love when God does that.  He meets us where we are and surprises the heck out of us.

Here’s the scripture that was read today: 2 Corinthians 4

4 1-2 Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.

3-4 If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.

5-6 Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

7-12 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

13-15 We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

When was a time that God surprised you?  Through scripture, other people, etc?