Living All In

No post this week. Coming back with fresh focus next week!

Do you want to meet a princess? All this talk about the royal wedding on Saturday has everyone thinking princesses and tiaras and castles. For most of us, meeting royalty is an impossible dream. But I can introduce you to a princess if you want. She’s a special kind of princess. She’s not European or highly photographed. She wears a tiara and lives in a palace, but you can’t tell she’s a princess just by looking at her. Her prince doesn’t ride a white horse, but he does fight dragons (and kill bugs). Her children don’t have titles, but they will be world changers someday. Wait a minute! She sounds normal. She sounds everyday. How can she be a princess? I’ll tell you a secret. It’s all about perspective. Still want to meet her? Check this post or my Facebook page on Thursday for a link to my second published piece introducing this princess and her fairytale. **UPDATE** As promised, the link! Click to meet the princess. Her View From Home

I usually write about Motherhood from the trenches because that’s where I am. Mother’s Day is a bright spot when you’re in the trenches. It’s a day your kids actually say thank you for all you do and your husband endeavors to give you a private bathroom break. He doesn’t succeed, but he tries really hard. And when he doesn’t succeed, he gives you flowers, or a wind chime, or, in my case, a unicorn. (See my Pinterest for the joke.) Motherhood is a strenuous occupation with no paycheck and no red carpet. Most days, I don’t know if I’m doing enough. Except on Mother’s day. On that day, my family showers me with love and appreciation. Unprompted. That’s the beauty of holidays like Mother’s day and Valentine’s day. Guys who don’t do “hints” validate women who have trouble asking for what they need. It’s funny how complicated/controversial Mother’s day has become. We want to celebrate Mom's sacrifice and labor (because they deserve it!) while not causing pain to women experie...

Can I call in sick today?   I’m nauseous.   I’ve been fighting an on again off again sinus headache since Friday. I need to take off work.   Maybe stay in bed all day. Shoot.   I can’t.   Who will keep the tiny humans alive? Make sure they have breakfast? Take their cold medicine? Get to school?   Finish their homework? Go to bed on time because state testing starts this week? Oh, right. Me. Time to find Tums. And Tylenol. And those bootstraps I have to pull myself up by. Time to close this tablet and dash back into the fray. I may be short on creativity this week, but not on grit.   No weapon formed against me or my family will prosper. (Isaiah 54:17) No colds can stand against my essential oils and humidifiers. No school project is beyond the capability of my over-tired Mom brain. “It is God who arms me with strength (and makes my way perfect.)” Ps 18:32 Good thing.   I’m running on empty, but with His strength I can keep tackling all...

Let’s do things a little different this week. Let’s talk about firsts. They say you never forget your first. First bike, first kiss, first car, first….other things. My first bike was a two wheeler. It was a little tall for me. I remember I had to climb onto our front garden landscape beams to successfully mount it. I received my first and only, thank the Lord, concussion while riding that bike, which led to my very first bike helmet. My first kiss (sadly) was not with my husband. Still, I fondly remember both it and the passionate young man who administered it. I hope his ending has been as happy as mine. My first car was a little blue Honda hatchback. It used to stop running every time it rained, leaving me stranded in some….hmmm…memorable places. One of which would not have been quite so memorable if I had remembered to pull the emergency brake. Oops. I remember the first time I tried on my wedding dress and knew it was right. I remember being terrified and excited signing...

So….last week, I had the brilliant idea to take a breath, slow down, smell roses, bake bread.   Aannnddd….life blew a big, fat, juicy raspberry at me. I went straight from the library to haircuts, from haircuts to ball pictures and an extra practice, then fell into bed exhausted.   Life does that sometimes.   It takes the plans you had and upends them. In those situations, only one thing matters. Attitude. Charles Swindoll, author of The Grace Awakening, said: “I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” With each situation last Tuesday, I had a choice.   I could have been aggravated that an extra practice was scheduled on the ONLY free night I had all week, and that I had to pick up special “for boys only” protective equipment without my husband or the kid in question. Instead, I took advantage of the fact that Academy Sports is right next to PetsMart and picked up live plants for my fish. Then my toddler and I bebopped over...

Today I’m taking a breath.   I’m going to go to the library with my son. Then, we’re going to make banana bread together. It’s going to take triple the time and make twice the mess. But you know what? I DON’T CARE. I’m taking a breath. My schedule has been weighing on me. My to-do list is the monster in my closet, and my writer’s block keeps popping it’s head around the corner saying “Nah nah na nah nah.” Yeah. It’s past time to take a breath. And realize… I have the power to slow my world down. It may not be pretty. Or easy. But I can. I can say “no.” I’m padlocking my closet. My to-do list is staying in there today. If I’m learning anything with age, it’s that there’s enough time for the important things if you let the unimportant things be. And I’m keeping it short this week, my peeps. Because as much as I love sharing my words with you, I love being a mom and a wife more. Present and Unplugged. Take a breath today. If it’s not alive, it can wait. Get out and e...

This week, let’s tackle procrastination. On second thought, maybe we can do it next week. I’m kidding…sort of. Seriously, if procrastinating were an Olympic sport, I would medal.   I have a gift.   I camouflage it by procrastinating with something constructive.   For example, right now I am writing this post while avoiding my entire “get it done before your in-laws come” list.   Later, I’ll be avoiding this post while I clean. They say you’re supposed to do the thing you dread the most first.   Once you get it over with, you can be productive the rest of the day. Some days that works for me.   Other days…well, I haven’t made my dentist appointment and I’ll be hiding my unwashed muffin tin in my oven. Out of curiosity, I googled why people procrastinate, and was floored by the number of hits.   Apparently, there are as many reasons for procrastinating as there are people who are doing it.   So, why me?   What are my reasons? I...

I almost missed this week.   My day job is running me over. You mothers know the one.   That job that starts at the crack of dawn (if you’re lucky enough to sleep that late) and continues until way after dark. Some days, parenting is amazing.   There are fairytale sparkles, little birds that help with the laundry and moments you are lost in the wonderment of motherhood.   Then, there are weeks where you’re slogging through the muck, hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel, and all you want to do is go back to bed because, let’s face it, “adulting” is hard. So, let’s tackle gratitude this week. Robert Holden said “The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present y ou become.” I want to be present.   Not in my phone.   Not in the TV.   Not focused on next month or next year.   I want to be right here and right now, because when this season of chaos passes – as it will all too quickly- I want to remember it....

Welcome to "Tackle-It" Tuesday !  Yesterday, I read the most beautiful blog post.  Helpful, Encouraging, Inspiring. I cried.  Then I commented.  Then I hid, because how could I hope to write something half as meaningful with my insignificant pen. Watch out! I’ve got compare-it-itis, and I think it’s contagious. We do that to ourselves. We compare. And we let the comparison keep us from our purpose, our work and our destiny. When the truth is -  we are ‘wonderfully complex.’ (Psalm 139:14 NLT) Not one of us is like the other. Each voice is beautifully unique and special. Romans 12:6 (NLT)says “In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. ‘ It goes on to list several gifts, adding after each, the admonition to do it ‘well.’ I have been given the gift of motherhood, so I will do it well.  The gift of writing, so I will write well.  And the gift of encouragement, so I will encourage well.  In obedience to the...

I keep seeing these cutesy nick names for blog posts, so I’ve decided to name mine.   Since the theme of this blog is ‘living all in’ and I’m a closet football fan (shh...don’t tell anybody) we’re going to have “Tackle-it Tuesdays.” Photo By Maryland State College of Agriculture (now the University of Maryland). (University of Maryland Libraries) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons I like Tuesdays.   First of all, they’re not Mondays. Can I get a witness? Second, that’s the day I started blogging. And third (I firmly believe you should have three reasons for everything) it keeps me on a schedule, which gives my Type A personality ‘all the feels.’ They will always be short and sweet.   Mostly because I’m creating these works of genius while my 4 year old blessing regales me with tales of super heroes and snot. But also because, like my (almost) 5 foot self, good things come in small packages. This week, let’s tackle Spring Break My kids are ...

I’m living all in. No, this is not an extreme sports blog.  That would be cool, and my three boys will probably drag me on many terrifying adventures. However, this is a blog about living an everyday life to the fullest. I know better than most how precious time is, and yet I have still been guilty of procrastinating. Not anymore.  It’s time to passionately pursue, enthusiastically encourage and radically reach.  It’s time to write.  Not just for myself.  For you too.  God has given me a unique voice, and it was never meant to be on mute. So here I am.  Mom, wife, musician, writer-at-large.  Starting a blog. Being heard.  Following my dreams. I hope you join me for the journey.