Coffee starts with "C"...

A couple of months ago I shared a baby shower devotional with a close friend. I intended to blog it right afterwards, but James went to be with the Lord and the idea of posting the devotional went by the wayside. However, these past couple of weeks I have found myself reminding myself of some mommying truths from the Scriptures, many of which were in my little devotional... so I think I am going to share it now... here it goes...

I am always impressed by those of you who skillfully construct your devotionals using an acrostic of a baby-inspired word or some other handy memory aid. Every time I tried to emulate that kind of cleverness I found myself only thinking of works like “burb”, or “poop”, or “spit up”. None of those seemed very pleasant to dwell on nor spiritual enough to shape a baby shower devotional around. So, instead of something about a baby, I thought about what a Mommy might need, and it didn’t take long before I thought of COFFEE. What Mom doesn’t need COFFEE, and lots of it?!?!?

Anyone who knows me knows I love coffee. I love to smell coffee, drink coffee, think about coffee, bake with coffee, make coffee for friends. We have enjoyed many a wonderful spiritual conversation over a latte. In the coming days, as this new baby arrives, you will probably enjoy starting your mornings with coffee to help you wake up, possibly mid-day to help you stay up and maybe even in the evening simply to relax. In fact, that wouldn’t be a bad model for each of us to follow, especially when we consider some spiritual COFFEE.

C – Count it all joy…

James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

When you think about new babies, the joyful things about mothering seem apparent; those sweet little feet, and fresh baby smells, the early morning snuggles which grow into tight toddler hugs, the first time they roll over through to the first word they utter, all these things brings joy to a mother’s heart.  

And here is where it is important that we make sure that our definition of joy is accurate, not simply a connotation of joy heavily influenced by joy’s cousin, happy. Happiness is a fleeting emotion, consider this scenario with me:

My husband made me coffee, I am now happy.

Fast forward twenty-seven seconds when…

My child spills my coffee, I am now unhappy. 

Happiness is transient and quickly affected by my surrounding circumstances. On the other hand, joy is an enduring contentedness, having joy in the Lord allows us to enjoy all that the Lord has given to us, and this is what James is taking about as he commands us to “Count it all joy.”

   

The only trial that seems to exist in those first babymoon weeks is how to get enough sleep to function or think clearly the next day. But not long into mommying other trials appear, like the first time your baby cries inconsolably through the night, or the first time that sweet little toddler stomps their foot down and clearly says, “NO!”, then there is the reoccurring nightmare at 3am or the mysterious fluid in the hallway.

We have shared the experience of waiting for the Pediatric Oncologist to come in, hoping to be told why your baby is so sick, only to hear that not even the most special of pediatric specialists is sure what is making your little boy so ill. These are the moments when the words of James need to echo in our ears, “Count it all joy.”

James tells us these trials will come – “when you meet trials of various kinds” – not if, he says, but when. James even tells us why they come – “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” Then, Romans 5:3-5 Paul tells us, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Come back for the "O"...

Greener still...

... and quite silly... I have recently become enamored with the idea of making t-shirt yarn, also known as "tarn". I have my first five shirts ready for deconstruction, tie-dyed shirts of the kids' from their group birthday party four years ago. I will photograph the process...

And then I read about "plarn"... Any guesses? Making yarn out of old plastic grocery bags... Hmmmm... projects...

So much to post...

My mind is so full of things to post... pictures of painted leaves (and what to do with them)... stories of fun, excitement and danger from our weekend of camping at the most incredible State Park I have ever been to... but I think two things will have to happen before any real posts are uploaded... sleep and laundry... until then, just know, some good stuff is coming...

Fall is in the air...

I feel like I am coming out of a fog... Micah turned three this past August, Hannah is about to topple over into the first year of her second decade, and everyone else is mashed in the middle... Days are more defined and less like really short months that escaped without notice.

I have always wanted to be one of "those moms". You know the type, they celebrate every holiday with fabulous decorations, unit studies and lap books on the history behind the holiday, art and songs about the holiday. For the last 11 years I have barely made mention of "special" days except to flounder through a woefully inadequate reason for why Daddy doesn't have to go to work that day.

I am still not one of "those moms" but I have found that holidays and seasons are a great opportunity for bringing my children together with their friends and sharing some form of creative endeavor. I am becoming increasingly aware that if we, as parents, are going to continue to limit our children's exposure to TV and computers, iPads and video consoles, we are going to have to give them other outlets for using their time. I have also realized that they are more apt to engage in these alternate activities when it is an experience that they can share with friends and/or their friends also enjoy it and it is something they can talk about when together.

All that to say, we are planning a trip to the park following the Symphony this week. I have organized a picnic and a nature hike culminating in an art project inspired by fall leaves. We will be water color painting some leaves I am drawing, I have ideas of how to use them later but I will share those after I post the finished projects. For now, the works in progress... Only 100 more leaves to draw...

A new birthday idea...

There have been a whirlwind of birthdays recently, my girls are each enjoying the festivities, and I have been trying to figure out how to give a nice gift to our girls' friends without spending way beyond budget.

We like crafting in our house. There are a lot of kids who make a lot of noise within these four walls, crafting usually produces busy hands and quiet moments. :) Since we enjoy the crafty endeavors we undertake so much, we also like to share our love of creating with our friends.

Just this weekend our girls were invited to two different parties, and after asking the moms of the birthday girls, we came up with some creative and fun ways to share our love of crafts with others, and utilize much of what we already had on hand to make the gifts.

The first party of the weekend came upon me too quickly and I missed the photo opportunity, but believe me, the stack of brightly colored fabrics tied with a bow were really sweet. This little girl also needed some pins and a few needles and embroidery floss. My girls also made necklaces and duct tape hair bows. I am excited to see what kind of creations the newly gifted fabric will turn into!

The second party of the weekend left me unsure of my creative gift-giving skills. We did purchase a frame and print a picture of our girls with their friend, but we needed something else... So, I made a craft kit from things we already had at home. It was very simple, and as I hand wrote the instructions, I think there were all of four or five steps. I hope she enjoys making these sweet butterfly pins, and then wearing them!

Butterfly Pin Kit Contents - Felt Butterfly pieces in pink and purple, buttons for wing embellishments, a needle case with 3 needles and some pins, two skeins of embroidery floss in coordinating colors, floss bobbins and two pins to affix to the finished butterflies.

Up close, waiting to be sewn together.

 What do you do for birthday party gifts for your children and their friends?

Fall leaves and handsewing...

Our little co-op of sorts keeps meeting each week, the children are so very patient with me, and I love watching my littles enjoy their friends and learn useful skills at the same time. This week we were sharing a handicraft to make a fall leaf garland, just in time for the weather to dip into the 50's at night and 70's in the daytime.

I worked all week to cut out all the little darling leaves in a variety of fall inspired colors, finally having to call in a friend to help me finish before my 19 students converged at 10am on Friday.

Here were all of our tools for the day - felt, scissors, yarn, large eyed needle.

I was too busy rethreading yarn onto needles, or helping kids get untangled, or assisting the littlest of the group to take any pictures during the process... but it was a great time, everyone finished one full garland section of ten leaves and took a second one home to continue practicing the straight stitch (age span from 3yo to nearly 11yo).

Not wanting to forget and allow spring to come without putting the garlands up on display, I cut the excess yarn and tied them together and up they went.

Up close, you can see the straight stitch employed for this project.

Ten leaves was the perfect number for a nice swag of each section of garland.

Up for all to enjoy - and the children are already making plans for winter, and spring garlands!

Simple, profitable fun. :)

New experiences...

In the midst of a rather mundane Wednesday, a child's piercing cry and pleading look grabbed my attention. A visit from a neighbor (who just happens to be a pediatrician), a visit to the doctor's office and X-rays to confirm... Our family's first broken arm. The break is thankfully minor in the grand scheme of possibilities, but it happened to our most reserved child. She insisted on going to AWANA last night, yet cringed at all the attention when people noticed her sling. So, she asked me to make it less noticeable, she requested me turn it into a "purse". And here is what I came up with... Until 3:30am. She seems pleased. :)