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the answer to the title question: not much. daily life. the mundane becoming the exciting.
this year wes & i have promised each other that we will do more enjoying of our backyard/gardens than working in them. the past two years have been filled with setting up new garden beds, cultivating soil, & trying to get all the weeds out of the yard (thistles! ouch). wait. i have to confess that last year wes did most of that while i lay miserable on a patio chair moaning about the miseries of pregnancy & why did god punish me again by giving me another 3rd-trimester-in-the-summer-baby. so now that we've established that i did no work of substance in the yard--except pulling weeds & dead-heading flowers, which i love to do (& practiced doing hip/round ligament joint stretches/squats & stretches while pulling weeds)...anyway, we want to enjoy our yard & fruits of our labor this summer. so far...we haven't done that! i tried to talk wes into relaxing outside in the sun this afternoon; instead, he put in the final herb garden box (so now my chives can be planted finally...they're huge!) then he also planted posts for the concord grapes & soon-to-be planted raspberries (well, they were planted last year but died a painful, hot death in august). & while he did all that work...i read a book this afternoon! not an entire book, of course, but quite a few chapters which is more than i've had the time to read in MONTHS.
this weekend seems to be emphasizing the everyday things that are simply good things in life. for quite a few years, around the time wes & i met & were married, i was so sure we were destined for an exciting life in another country. maybe south america, maybe africa, maybe asia...but it was plainly told to wes & i through prayers & random christian-hearing-god-sorta-people coming up saying this to us: god wants you to enjoy life as a family, here in the u.s. i've heard the pastor of the vineyard columbus say that not a lot of people are called to this & i was like 'why us?! we want to go! we'd be good at it!' & it was so hard to hear that we are to live in a house, doing everything that everyone else can do... come on, wes & i can go DAYS without taking showers, we'd do great in other countries & as missionaries, lol. & all along we keep meeting people who have been missionaries & doing trips to other countries. so for quite a while, i would be a bit mopey about it, wondering why i was told to stay & be a tab-bit bored while everyone else got to GO & think & do & explore. (but i know we'll get our turn).
& over the past year i think wes & i have finally began to understand that god has many things in store for us...even if we're not going on adventures (as in exotic vacations or ministry). we are trying our darnedest to get involved in different things (which isn't easy for two introverts) & put ourselves out there a bit more. but that's not even what i'm talking about...i guess it has more to do with enjoying what we have for what it is: we have two enchanting (at least to us!) wee girls who mostly adore us, we have a strong marriage, (mostly) good health, a job/career, a home, we hear/feel/desire jesus, our families aren't totally coo-ky (lol, really, our families are really amazing), & best of all we have a budget (that one was for my husband).
over the past few years my sister has reiterated to me over & over again that i shouldn't feel guilty when i am a bit off/bored/sad/frustrated over things in my life. you know, all the mundane things that can tip a stay at home mom over the edge (round the calendar illnesses, miserable pregnancies, children who insist on peeing on the floor, a dog who rubs his butt on the carpet...just daily grievances). often i try to stop myself from getting frustrated over these things b/c they seem so, oh--silly?--to get upset about. & some people would just tell me to suck it up, i have it good, etc etc. but not my sister, or my family, or wes' family, or wes, or my friends, & most importantly not jesus/god. i am continuously reminded that jesus is here with me throughout the day, helping me calm down when adeline is throwing a tantrum for over 30 minutes. those things...like last friday when i wanted to jump onto a slow boat to china & just chill on that boat for about 2 months. i don't know what i'd do when i got there, but i was READY. instead we went to judy's birthday bonfire-party! good choice, i agree.
but lately we have noticed ourselves finding more joy in these daily parenting/marriage/u.s. family of 4 in the suburbs. there is joy in it, in having children & being here to watch them mature & sort of stewing in our community & home (you know: birth twice, stir a few times, sit back & watch it on a slow boil??). i guess what we're feeling, especially me, is that god is telling us that this is where we are needed to further his kingdom. sometimes i guess i do feel like i am in some foreign country battling out some terrible satan-spawned army...but then i realize it's just my children & i should stop day dreaming. *wink*
since we have returned to vineyard columbus several people that we used to be acquainted with have approached us (or one of us individually) & said how great it is to see jesus in our marriage & kids & that we are living out the life jesus has given us to the fullest...& i'm like "what? do you know i change diapers all day? & i just told me 2 year old to shut up last week?" (yea, not one of my finer moments, i know, but if you're a parent please don't lie & say you've never been there also. i have a feeling it happens to all of us at one point. mine just happened to be very recent!). anyway, i guess i am just finally understanding it all...even this mundane life is good to him.
& i had to make it over 6 paragraphs b/c wes made fun of me & said i couldn't write a post under 6 paragraphs. so i am proving him right?!?
this year wes & i have promised each other that we will do more enjoying of our backyard/gardens than working in them. the past two years have been filled with setting up new garden beds, cultivating soil, & trying to get all the weeds out of the yard (thistles! ouch). wait. i have to confess that last year wes did most of that while i lay miserable on a patio chair moaning about the miseries of pregnancy & why did god punish me again by giving me another 3rd-trimester-in-the-summer-baby. so now that we've established that i did no work of substance in the yard--except pulling weeds & dead-heading flowers, which i love to do (& practiced doing hip/round ligament joint stretches/squats & stretches while pulling weeds)...anyway, we want to enjoy our yard & fruits of our labor this summer. so far...we haven't done that! i tried to talk wes into relaxing outside in the sun this afternoon; instead, he put in the final herb garden box (so now my chives can be planted finally...they're huge!) then he also planted posts for the concord grapes & soon-to-be planted raspberries (well, they were planted last year but died a painful, hot death in august). & while he did all that work...i read a book this afternoon! not an entire book, of course, but quite a few chapters which is more than i've had the time to read in MONTHS.
this weekend seems to be emphasizing the everyday things that are simply good things in life. for quite a few years, around the time wes & i met & were married, i was so sure we were destined for an exciting life in another country. maybe south america, maybe africa, maybe asia...but it was plainly told to wes & i through prayers & random christian-hearing-god-sorta-people coming up saying this to us: god wants you to enjoy life as a family, here in the u.s. i've heard the pastor of the vineyard columbus say that not a lot of people are called to this & i was like 'why us?! we want to go! we'd be good at it!' & it was so hard to hear that we are to live in a house, doing everything that everyone else can do... come on, wes & i can go DAYS without taking showers, we'd do great in other countries & as missionaries, lol. & all along we keep meeting people who have been missionaries & doing trips to other countries. so for quite a while, i would be a bit mopey about it, wondering why i was told to stay & be a tab-bit bored while everyone else got to GO & think & do & explore. (but i know we'll get our turn).
& over the past year i think wes & i have finally began to understand that god has many things in store for us...even if we're not going on adventures (as in exotic vacations or ministry). we are trying our darnedest to get involved in different things (which isn't easy for two introverts) & put ourselves out there a bit more. but that's not even what i'm talking about...i guess it has more to do with enjoying what we have for what it is: we have two enchanting (at least to us!) wee girls who mostly adore us, we have a strong marriage, (mostly) good health, a job/career, a home, we hear/feel/desire jesus, our families aren't totally coo-ky (lol, really, our families are really amazing), & best of all we have a budget (that one was for my husband).
over the past few years my sister has reiterated to me over & over again that i shouldn't feel guilty when i am a bit off/bored/sad/frustrated over things in my life. you know, all the mundane things that can tip a stay at home mom over the edge (round the calendar illnesses, miserable pregnancies, children who insist on peeing on the floor, a dog who rubs his butt on the carpet...just daily grievances). often i try to stop myself from getting frustrated over these things b/c they seem so, oh--silly?--to get upset about. & some people would just tell me to suck it up, i have it good, etc etc. but not my sister, or my family, or wes' family, or wes, or my friends, & most importantly not jesus/god. i am continuously reminded that jesus is here with me throughout the day, helping me calm down when adeline is throwing a tantrum for over 30 minutes. those things...like last friday when i wanted to jump onto a slow boat to china & just chill on that boat for about 2 months. i don't know what i'd do when i got there, but i was READY. instead we went to judy's birthday bonfire-party! good choice, i agree.
but lately we have noticed ourselves finding more joy in these daily parenting/marriage/u.s. family of 4 in the suburbs. there is joy in it, in having children & being here to watch them mature & sort of stewing in our community & home (you know: birth twice, stir a few times, sit back & watch it on a slow boil??). i guess what we're feeling, especially me, is that god is telling us that this is where we are needed to further his kingdom. sometimes i guess i do feel like i am in some foreign country battling out some terrible satan-spawned army...but then i realize it's just my children & i should stop day dreaming. *wink*
since we have returned to vineyard columbus several people that we used to be acquainted with have approached us (or one of us individually) & said how great it is to see jesus in our marriage & kids & that we are living out the life jesus has given us to the fullest...& i'm like "what? do you know i change diapers all day? & i just told me 2 year old to shut up last week?" (yea, not one of my finer moments, i know, but if you're a parent please don't lie & say you've never been there also. i have a feeling it happens to all of us at one point. mine just happened to be very recent!). anyway, i guess i am just finally understanding it all...even this mundane life is good to him.
& i had to make it over 6 paragraphs b/c wes made fun of me & said i couldn't write a post under 6 paragraphs. so i am proving him right?!?
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