Month: December 2010

Attempt #294 at a Christmas photo.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Last year at this time I was getting ready to start a life changing project. My sister-in-law Amy, challenged me to read The Bible in 90 Days. For years Amy had talked about how The Bible in 90 Days had changed her life and recommended it to anyone and everyone who would listen. Last fall she approached me and asked what I thought about her taking this challenge to the internet. I told her I thought it was a good idea and would help her promote it. I promoted it for her, and in the end agreed to join the January 2010 group.

At first I thought it was going to be terribly difficult, reading the entire bible in 3 months? I didn’t know how I would make the time to invest 45 minutes to an hour a day reading the bible. But then I realized that I probably wasted that much time every day doing things that were much less important than reading the bible. Once I started reading I thought it would be a piece of cake. I’ve read Genesis more times that I can count and I flew through the pages of familiar stories. I kept going, ending up a few days ahead of the group. Then I reached Numbers. It was hard, I struggled to stay focused during my reading time… but I kept going. I ended up reading the entire bible in 87 days. I find it hard to put into words how much this project challenged me, stretched me, inspired me, and blessed me.

If you ever thought you might want to read the entire bible consider reading it in 90 days. There are so many reasons why I think you should do it, but here are some of the things that impacted me.

You Read Through the Entire Bible

I have always found it strange when I meet people who don’t believe in Jesus, but have never read the bible. I’m not saying that reading the bible makes you believe, but how do you know you don’t believe in something if you have no knowledge of it? Conversely, I am surprised to meet Christians who have never read the bible or even significant portions of it. (I’m not talking about new Christians). Why would you follow Jesus, if you don’t know what he stands for?

You Read Through the Bible Quickly

Many people would argue too quickly. I disagree. I have read through the Bible in a year, and I got an entirely new perspective reading it in 90 days. You are able to see the big picture so much better, and all those names in the genealogies finally seem familiar because you are never too far away from something that happened earlier in the bible.

It Creates Self Discipline

This is a side benefit of reading the Bible in 90 Days. You are committed to setting aside almost an hour a day to read scripture. When finished you have 90 days worth of a very good habit.

You Learn A Lot About Yourself

I learned that I have a hard time reading through Psalms, I love the Old Testament, and that I need to memorize more scripture. I also learned that I can be a morning person when I put my mind to it.

Those are just a few of the things I learned by reading the Bible in 90 Days. If you are interested in reading with a group, which I highly recommend, Amy has a new group starting January 3, 2011. You can find out more about the Bible in 90 Days on her website, Mom’s Toolbox.

With a laundry pile like this who has time to be sick?

So here’s the deal, I’ve been sick off and on for about a month. Stuffy nose, cough, tired, etc, I figured it was just a cold. Then I woke up yesterday to some intense pain in my eye and a headache. I asked some of my blogging friends what I should do for this eye infection and they gave me a few recommendations, all of which I tried. But their strongest recommendation was for me to go to the doctor. I gave them a million reasons why I didn’t have time to go and they told me I was better off spending the time going now rather than later. I promised them that if I woke up the next day feeling worse I would go. (Side note: My husband was also quite insistent on a doctor’s visit too)

I woke up a 3am this morning with intense pain in my eye, head, and teeth. I waited until the office opened and made an appointment. Even though I spent a good part of the morning at the doctor’s office, I’m glad I went. My “just a cold” had turned in to a full blown sinus infection. But the worse part… the infection was moving into my eye. Apparently this is bad, and I was told that if my eye didn’t improve in 2 or 3 days I needed to come back for IV antibiotics. 🙁

So, why am I telling you my medical problems? Because I think there is a lesson to be learned in all of this, and I don’t believe that I am the only person out there who needs to learn it.

As moms we spend a lot of time “doing” for other people. Often times the needs of our family, home, church, friends, and outside commitments come before our basic needs. Things like sleep, eating three real meals a day (not snacking on the crusts of your 4 year-old’s peanut butter sandwich), and exercising often are pushed aside because of a more pressing need. I know for me, when I prioritize my life I am always at the bottom of the list. Now I realize that we are called to serve our families and others, but I believe that many times this translates into running ourselves into the ground physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

So, what do we do about it?

We need to admit that we are never going to get it all done.

We won’t, that’s just the way it is. There will always be one more thing that needs our attention. We have to be okay ending our day with stuff still on the list.

We need to get more sleep.

I honestly believe that moms and the military keep coffee companies in business. I don’t think I have ever met a mom that wasn’t tired. All.the.time.  Yes, there are going to be nights where you are up with a sick child, or making cookies for that bake sale you forgot about, but make it a habit to go to bed and get up at the same time every day.

We need to eat better.

I know so many moms who miss breakfast and eat goldfish off their toddler’s plate for lunch because they don’t have time to eat. Make time. If you have to cut up fruit and veggies on the weekends so you have something to snack on then do it. Even a peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread is better than skipping a meal.

We need to say no.

There are lots of good things out there, even great things. But they might not be good for you at this point in your life. One thing I have learned over the years is that life is like the changing seasons. Snow skiing is great in February, but not so great in June. If you have three kids under four, this might not be the time in your life to volunteer as children’s ministry coordinator at your church. But, eventually there will be a time where these opportunities can fit in your schedule. It is okay to say no.

There are no Supermoms.

Trust me, they don’t exist. And if you are reading a book or a blog and someone seems like Supermom to you, they’re lying. Or at least they aren’t giving you the whole story. Everyone is failing at something, so let’s stop comparing ourselves. We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. When I was growing up there was a lady who I thought was the absolute best mom ever. She was always playing with her kids, going on awesome field trips, letting them explore and do all sorts of amazing things. But you know what, her house was a total disaster! She was an awesome mom but a terrible housekeeper. The comparison game does nothing but create discontentment in our own hearts.

Take Time to be Sick

I probably wouldn’t be on antibiotics right now with an big ‘ol fat eye and aching teeth if I had just slowed down last week when I started feeling bad. There is nothing wrong with putting in a movie for the kids and taking a nap on the couch if you feel a cold coming on. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right? I know as moms we rarely get a sick day. There is no sleeping in or staying in bed all day when we don’t feel well. But if you start to feel run down, do something about it today. Don’t wait. I find that when moms do get sick it is usually something amazing and terrible, often because we waited or pushed ourselves so we could do just one more thing.

I’m thankful that I have a husband, friends, and even kids who made me stop being busy and go to the doctor. A mom who is constantly exhausted, run down, cranky, and sick can’t be doing much of anything well, and I sure wasn’t. And you can be sure, the next time I start to feel lousy I am not going to try and crank out just a few more projects or stay up late to finish a chore. Those jobs will still be there when I am feeling better, and hopefully next time it will be sooner rather than later.

Yes, you have come to the right place!

I’m sure you have noticed that things look quite a bit different around here today. My good friend Joy has helped transform this site to make it much easier to use. Now I know that it might not seem easier to use quite yet because it is so totally different but I will be putting up a tutorial tonight to help explain many of the changes. (edit: technical difficulties are causing a slight delay with the tutorial, it will be up soon)

There are still a few glitches to be worked out and things to be added in the next few days.

Why the Change?

The idea to rework the site has been brewing in my mind since my trip to Texas this summer. As the site has grown, I realized that I was having trouble finding things on the site. If I couldn’t find things that I wrote, I figured people who weren’t as familiar with the site would really have a hard time.

I’ve also had a desire to write more about certain topics that I know didn’t interest everyone so I wanted to create a place where people could read about the topics that interest them, but don’t have to wade through the stuff that doesn’t apply.

Aren’t Your Kids Upset That They Have Been Replaced?

Actually it is quite the opposite. Many of my children were disappointed that their pictures were so dated in the header. Since “cartooning” them is complicated (and expensive), I decided it was time to retire the old header. Don’t worry, you will probably be seeing much more of them on the site in the as I write more about homeschooling and our daily adventures.

Ack! Where is Our Story? I Can’t Find It!!!!!

I haven’t decided where Our Story should live on the site, but it is still around. I’ll have a very visible link up soon. And I promise (seriously I do) to finish it in 2011.

I want to go back…..