a challenge...of sorts

well, as i am sure you are well aware...i've kind of fallen off the wagon as far as posting goes!!

but the thing is, i really want to write...like really! but i don't want to just be another "blogger" that fills the web with banter...

i want to add a bit of "something" to the day of a reader....be it laughter, encouragement, or a bit of insight...

so, in the madness that is my life - good madness, that is!! - i have been soaking up a lot of encouragement, laughter and insight galore...but can't quite find the words to pass all of that on to you...so i haven't...and that makes me sad!

until now...i'm not making ANY promises here, but i AM hopping back on the "posting" wagon in hopes to let you in on what's going on here daily...as well as bring you that bit of laughter, encouragement, or insight...

how you may ask...?

i decided to take the challenge...after seeing the idea over here on my good friend's blog!


Here's an excerpt from the blog that posted the challenge...the "rules" per-say...

What is "Project 31"? It is a collection of thoughts, ideas, and women who potray beauty in a inspired way. "Project 31" is you celebrating your God given beauty, and celebrating the beautiful women around you. The meaning behind the project is taken from this:


Proverbs 31


¹⁰ Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
¹¹ The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
¹² She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
¹³ She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
¹⁵ She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
¹⁸ She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
¹⁹ She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
²⁰ She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
²¹ She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
²² She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
²⁵ Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
²⁷ She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “ Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.


Pretty good stuff, huh? Wanna join in? Here is the challenge... For 31 days, blog each day about things that celebrate your God given beauty, and the beauty of the women around you.


THE LIST:


Day 1. What does beauty mean to you?
Day 2. What makes you uniquely you?
Day 3. Who is someone you know who inspires beauty?
Day 4. Style 31. Post a pic of you in your favorite outfit.
Day 5. Write a blog thanking someone who has made your heart come alive.
Day 6. Jaded beauty. Has the world's definition of beauty ever jaded you?
Day 7. Write a blog to encourage another beautiful woman.
Day 8. Have a beauty secret (e.g. hair tip, make up tip)? Share, please!
Day 9. What virtues do you value in yourself?
Day 10. What is Jesus teaching you as a wife, mom, or friend? (Or just woman in general?)
Day 11. Post a recipe. Or if you don't cook, try a new recipe and write about how it turned out (pictures please!).
Day 12. Write about what wears you out as a woman.
Day 13. Write about something you would like to change about yourself for the better.
Day 14. Style 31. Post an outfit pic!
Day 15. Write to encourage a friend. Inspire her beauty.
Day 16. Write a letter to your daughter, or a young girl in your life. Tell her what beauty means.
Day 17. Write about 3 things that make you happy.
Day 18. Describe your personality.
Day 19. Write about your favorite comfort food (we are women- we ALL have comfort food!)
Day 20. Write about your job and why you love it or hate it.
Day 21. Write a letter to your husband to encourage him (or if you are single- your future husband.)
Day 22. What are some needs that need to be met in your community? Blog about how to extend your hand to those who need you.
Day 23. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?
Day 24. What is Jesus teaching you presently?
Day 25. Style 31. Post a pic of your favorite comfy clothes.
Day 26. What do you hope your grandchildren will say about you someday when you are gone?
Day 27. Write a blog to encourage someone and build their confidence!
Day 28. Write about your insecurities as a woman.
Day 29. Write about "a day in the life of me." (Pics are great!)
Day 30. Who is your role model as a woman?
Day 31. Write about your dreams and goals as a beautiful woman!

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can i do it??? we have yet to see...

do i want to...you bet!!

i've been thinking a LOT about Proverbs 31 as of late...and how i can be more of a woman described in this chapter...how i can be a source of encouragement to my husband, my children, and others in my life!

come along with me...as i celebrate beauty with project 31...and, maybe you'll decide to take the challenge too!!?

be blessed...

friday

so...today...a glimpse into my day, thus far...and it's only 10:22

we've woken up...shared breakfast...watched the girls maul their poor kitties...wrangled in a few rude comments...given some snuggles...made a birthday cake...and the icing...made wrapping paper...and a card...wrapped a present...played "wile ferocious tiger"...cleaned the baking mess...opened up google reader to catch up on blogs past...while listening to the girls run, and run, and run....interrupted by "that sound"...that wretched sound from the depths of a sick gut!...to look behind me a shout "are you gonna puke??"..."mmm-hmmm"...followed by the wave!! rushed to the bathroom, only to be met by a closed door...oops! held my baby over the toilet wishing i could take away what the next few moments would bring:(...cleaned up the dripping door and full floor!...bathed my baby...got ready for taking them to swimming...blogged...and ran out the door in a frenzy to get the oldest to swimming...THE END

humbling truth

thought i'd share this quote with you...

i was astounded as it brought my actions and their effects under a ultra-bright light to a place i could no longer hide them...

and maybe, "hopefully", try and blame the downward turn of any given day on something/one else, lack of sleep, children unwilling to listen...

sure, some of those things definitely play a roll in how situations are played out, BUT!!

can i allow them to control my actions?? no!

can i put the blame of my lost temper off onto someone else? no!

my attitude is MINE and no one but ME is to blame/praise for how i react/ don't react to a situation!!

so here's the slice of humble pie i enjoyed for breakfast this morning...enjoy!! (and yes, i ate it nicely and swallowed every last bite!)

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated,
and a person is humanized or de-humanized.
If we treat people as they are, we make them worse.
If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

...to the start of a new week! Be blessed!

::wordless wednesday::

Type-B Muma...

i happened upon this refreshing post...and it brought comfort to my soul! I now know that I am not a failing type-A person, but rather very much a type-B person!! And this brings much freedom to my convictions of "failure" on all levels of life where I felt as though I could never measure up to those people who THRIVE of schedules and timetables!

I know that most of you who read this aren't homeschoolers, but I had to share it somewhere:)

enjoy...

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This one is for all you Type-B homeschooling mamas out there – be encouraged – you CAN homeschool well! Article brought to you by the sewing, cheesecake eating, ninja of jewelry and accessory hipness, Ashlee Baker.

My name is Ashlee and I am a work at home, homeschooling mama to 6 kiddos, ages 12, 10, 9, 7, 3, and 1, with another arriving in early July.

I run an online baby store as well as my home. And I am total type-b. Let me give you a glimpse at our school day and then I will explain. My husband heads off for work at about 8am and I try to be up by the time he leaves, but that doesn’t always happen. I make sure all my kids are up by 9 and we sit down for breakfast. It’s usually 10 or so by the time we clean up and do morning chores, and we dive in to our work. Everyone does their math and then we do some form of English. It could be a workbook, a creative story written after I give them a scenario, a synopsis of our weekend, their opinion of an upcoming holiday or event or anything else I come up with. The point is always to have them use proper English, punctuation, their best handwriting and make them think. After that we usually eat lunch and I lay the babies down. Our afternoon usually is spent watching a documentary, painting or doing a craft, listening to an audio book or just creative play.

To some people this does not look like a sufficient school day, and that’s okay. I was that person once. We started homeschooling six years ago when my oldest was entering first grade. I knew what a typical school day looked like so that is what I tried to duplicate; we did not have much fun. I am extremely laid back, but the only thing I knew about homeschooling was strict schedules, preplanned curriculum, and an 8-3 schedule. That was not working for me. I would spend hours writing up the perfect schedule, only to fail miserably the next few days, and beat myself up about the failure. Over the next few years I settled into a groove of teaching what is necessary, and teaching a lot of extras in things that were fun. This did work for me.

I am fortunate enough to have a type-a husband who keeps me in check. I have a tendency to be extremely type-b which can be tough when you are teaching four kids and raising six. He would love nothing more than for me to write out a schedule and stick to it. But he also sees that I work better with routines than schedules, so he helps me stay accountable to that. He also appreciates the crazy things we do in the name of education. Last week we watched several episodes of Mythbusters on Netflix all in the name of learning. A few weeks before that we watched the documentary, Babies, and discussed in detail, cultural nudity among other things. And that’s okay.

One of the things I try to do as a type-b mom is accept my weaknesses and ask God to make then strengths. I am a horrible procrastinator, so I try to make sure I am early everywhere I go and explain to my kids why its important. When we are late somewhere we are being disrespectful to the person waiting on us because we are not respecting their time. This helps me to be accountable to my kids. Another weakness is poor time management. I try to make this a strength by sticking to my routine in an acceptable time. This keeps the pressure of a schedule at bay, but makes sure I am getting the most done in the time allotted. I am teaching my kids through this as well by making sure they do their chores and school work in an acceptable amount of time, with diligence.

I am very thankful I am type-b because I think it allows me to be flexible and easy going. If something happens in the middle of our school day that causes us to get off track, no biggie, we will catch up tomorrow. If a kid becomes sick in the middle of the day, we just take that opportunity to exercise our compassion by taking care of whoever is sick through serving them, taking over their chores joyfully, praying over them and doing what we can to cheer them up.

My kids may never memorize all the Presidents, but they will know what they do and they will know to respect them at all times, even if they don’t agree with their viewpoints. They may never memorize pi, but they will know how to spot the best deal at the store, calculate percentages, and make change quickly and accurately. They may never recite Robert Frost’s poems from memory, but they will be able to quote scripture with the quickness, for any situation they come across in life. They may never draw out the countries in Africa in 60 seconds, but they sure will pretend they are missionaries in the African jungle bringing the Word of God to an unknown tribe. Then again, they may do all those amazing things if they want.

I heard a story last year that solidified this thinking in my heart. It was the story of Francis Collins, scientist who helped map human DNA and who also happened to be an evangelical Christian. He was interviewed about his success and was asked about his homeschooling experience. His father was an English PhD and professor and his mom was a playwright (and type-b, I bet). He said they were very into folk music and putting on elaborate medieval productions. But this environment was a place to thrive. They would explore a topic, like the origins of words, for a week or two, doing nothing else, then move on to another subject, like mathematics. As a result, Dr. Collins said, he grew up with an unquenchable curiosity and love of learning. You see, God’s plan for him was to help map human DNA. All his parents had to do was create in him a passion for learning and God took care of the rest.

I will never teach my children all there is to know, but I will teach them all they need to know. My job is to create a passion for learning and a passion for Christ and He will take care of the rest.

Lastly, I must accept that I will never be type-a. I will never run well off schedules and strict curriculum. But that is okay, God created me just the way He wanted. He will give me all the strength and ability I need to do what He has called me to. Also, I am not inferior to my type-a friends, just different and their detailed schedules are not better, just different. There is room for all of us in the realm of homeschoolers, and our goal is basically the same, to provide our children with the best we have to offer.

Ashlee is a disciple, wife, mom of many, and artist. She stumbles through Gods calling, trying to do her best to honor Him. She make lots of mistakes but never gives up the pursuit of her Savior. He guides her as a wife, strengthens her as a mom to almost 7, and inspires her as an artist. Head on over to her blog (or check out her shop) and say “hi!”

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ahhh...so refreshed!

~be blessed

Pay-It-Forward...2011

Okay...so this is something I found (and did) on Facebook...and it took longer than I thought... "who wouldn't want something homemade???"

at least that's what I thought!!!

So...here's the deal: this first five people to leave a comment here will receive from me something homemade within the year 2011!!

the catch: in return, your comment is sealing the deal that you will "pay it forward" and post this same thing in your blog, committing to make something for 5 other people:) Come on...you know you want to...and you have 365 days to come up with 5 things from the heart! That's like thinking of something for someone once very 2+ months!!

who's in??

The Dawning of 2011...

So many words...swirling in my brain...

so many thoughts...trying to wrangle into sentences...

another year is upon us...and i have again sought a "word" to carry into this new chapter...

looking back on last year's word...i find it ironically similar to what life looks like for us at this moment...a year later...

the only difference is our attitude!

"delight yourself in the Lord" ~psalm 37:4

so, yes...we are going around the same mountain, but this time, we are learning!

we have learned to be happy in our "right now"...

not wallowing in what we had...

or longing for what's to come...

but to be content because we are right.where.we.are! (Phil 4:11)

so...this year my phrase is "expectant joy"

i will expect the best...of all people, in all circumstances!

Jesus came that we may have life...but not just a "hum-drum," "every day the same," "whoa-is-me" sort of life...but life in ABUNDANCE!!

No matter what is happening, no matter what situation I find myself in, or what chore I find myself doing, or what duty I have to fulfill, I can choose to do it with JOY!

I will pray bolder prayers because I believe what it says in Eph. 3:20...

He is able to do far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]

...does that makes sense to you?? HE is able to do MORE than we could even begin to FATHOM!! i would imagine that that's a LOT!

and just in case you may think that you aren't warranted any asking, dreaming or imagining...James 4 says that we have not because we ask not...so, I WILL ask...BOLDLY!

I will enjoy where I am at while I get to where I'm going!

I will dream big dreams and even if I only get part of it, that's better than dreaming small and getting it all!

it is promised in Isaiah that God will trade me JOY for mourning...He will give me BEAUTY for
ashes!

seems like He's getting a bad deal, but His divine exchange...it doesn't have to make sense, i simply have to accept it!!

I will expectantly hope for the BEST and live with JOY!

no, it won't be easy, and yes, there will be many times throughout this year where I fail and choose complaining and moaning over EXPECTANT JOY...but this will continue to be my hope and desire...this will be what I seek each morning, and what I pray He gives me the strength to live with!

And you...?

What word/phrase will you take with you this year??

Whatever it is, I hope you choose it expecting the best!

on this, the dawning of a new year, i am filled with EXPECTANT JOY for what's to come!

~blessings to you...