Thankful Thursday

(taken Thanksgiving 2009, at my parents' house)

An exercise in thankfulness and contentment. Turning the frown upside down. Seeing the beauty.

Today I am thankful:

...for the excessive heat

• because it helps me to 'love' my home more when we are stuck indoors.
• its easy on the budget.
• because the morning light is especially beautiful, peacefully waking us up.
• because it makes me drink more water.
• butter pecan ice cream. Nuff said.
• because I dread the cold more than the heat, so I'll soak it up.

...that we don't own a washer or dryer

• because its a nice excuse to see the in laws.
• because my sweet mother-in-law and sister-in-law help me with inordinate amounts of burp-cloth washing.
• because ironing is NOT my favorite chore.
• because my clothes smell like the country air.

...that we live in a smaller space

• there is less to clean, and frankly, this is all I can handle right now. :)
• because it simplifies things, and helps us 'dare to dump' as my Momma would say.
• because its really all we need right now.
• because it keeps all three of us close, all the time.

"I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever."
Psalm 86:12



What are you thankful for today?

Mug Shot Monday

Hello. So, last week kind of got away from me; some weeks just do that. My sweet little mister cut his first tooth, and is working hard on a second. He's three months old today (already?), and I'm thankful he's starting early, so we can get this teething business off to a good start, and maybe finish early, too. He's such a joyful little guy, and he really tries his best to keep his chin up, but these teeth really messed up his sleeping pattern. Before the teeth he was sleeping through the night and taking 3 long naps a day (I'm spoiled, I know!)...but last week we were lucky to get a half hour during the day, poor guy. So, blogging was low priority compared to caring for my babe and trying to get some winks for both of us!
But last night he only woke up once, and is taking a nice long nap now! I'm so glad he's catching up on some of the rest he needs. We'll see how long we can keep this up, but I'll take what I can get!

Three months. THREE MONTHS! Three months? Boy, it has gone by quickly. Some of my goals for this week: updating his baby book, hugging him and kissing him and squeezing him and snuggling him, taking more pics, and trying to remember and document all those little details that we will cherish 20 years from now.

And maybe, with a full night's sleep, I can get this home back in order...after more snuggles. :)

balcony breakfast and a good talkin' to

Breakfast just tastes better in pretty dishes. It was delicious on our balcony this morning. You know that 'after the rain' smell? And the birds! I used to be a night person, but oh, the morning is growing on me, it is.

I also used to prefer reading at night, but ever since I got pregnant with the little guy, I kinda prefer to read in the morning. Not sure what happened there. Hormone changes? Maybe. Turning into my morning-loving mother? Probably. I'd love to be more like her. Though I still enjoy curling up with a book on our big, old, decrepit mustard yellow chair at 10pm. These days, I mostly 'curl up' to feed the babe, which I cherish infinitely more than a good read, mind you.

Speaking of him:



Okay, you can stop drooling now. :)

This little guy loves books almost as much as his Daddy (which is hard to do). Whenever we read something to him, or show him any of his books, he just lights up! And if he's tired or sulky, we walk him by his Dad's library, and he looks at all the shapes and colors and calms down immediately. It must be genetic.

I am reading the above book (Womanly Dominion, More than a Gentle and Quiet Spirit, by Mark Chanski) with my bookish ladies this month, and though I'm only halfway through the second chapter, I'm already a fan. Here's a favorite quote:

"As men and women, we are to flex our abilities, and with the help of God, subdue the mutinous and adverse forces of the earth under our feet. We are to take into our hands the earth and its menagerie of operations, and through forceful and aggressive effort, compel them to do our bidding. In doing this we are imitating God, in whose image we are made. In the beginning, God took hold of a newly created earth with was a "formless and void" chaos (Genesis 1:2). God premeditatedly designed a plan for its creative development in the space of six days. Then He systematically and progressively put His plan into action. The result was an orderly world bearing witness to the genius of its Designer. And so, every image-bearing man and woman is obligated to imitate his/her maker in his own miniature world. Each is assigned a lifelong plot of wild earth that he/she is to stake out, cute down, plow up, plant and harvest. We must aggressively subdue, and not passively loiter. Every week of our lives, we are to reflect our Heavenly Father. Six days we labor to subdue the earth, and on the seventh day we rest, basking in the satisfaction of a job well done, restfully praising the Lord for the work He's enabled our hands to do. The completed projects act as gratifying and comfortable footstools for our feet. We're able to say "That week of work was good, very good." (Genesis 1:31)

Now if that doesn't make you want to go clean the kitchen, I don't know what will! This branches off from the book/quote a little, but I'm going to get preachy. Just because I need a pep talk myself. If you could see my heart, you would know. As women, we tend a little (or a lot) more towards a 'victim' mentality - at least I know I do. Now here's some hard words: the root of this "victimitis" is both selfish and fearful, grounded in a heart that doesn't trust the Lord as it should. "I'm scared" becomes "I can't" becomes "I won't ever be able to" becomes "I won't." We do this with our homes, until we are overwhelmed with the chaos around us. We do this with our time, and the hours swallow us up. We do this with our relationships, and they become stifled, stagnant, and self-oriented. This attitude-turned-lifestyle (all of them are, by the way) is not a response to or reflection of our loving, mighty, masterful Triune God! It is a reflection of our idol of fear. But guess what!? His perfect love casts out that fear! It conquers it! It calls us and enables us to take dominion in our sphere, so that it would bring glory to Him...so the Kingdom is built!

^"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39, ESV, emphasis mine.

So be of good cheer! Fear not, image-bearers! Go conquer your corner of the earth through Him who loves you! I'm going to go step on the neck of my kitchen (Joshua 10:24, Psalm 110), not that it's my enemy, or anything. :)

Love,
Sarah Marie

g'mornin!

We've had some amazing thunderstorms 'round these parts lately. I love how storms simultaneously show our Creator's infinite power and intricate beauty. I also love that it gave some hope to my poor little verbena, who somehow hung in there during our heatwave the previous week. One, lonely little bundle of blooms among the chaff. Hopefully, she'll have a couple of friends joining her soon.



In other news, I snagged some cottons for the little guy yesterday. I think I may have too many projects for too little time...but I've just gotta make something for him! Hats, bibs, overalls...I'll keep you posted! I'm especially drawn to the dots on the far right:



Cheers!

Necessity is the Mother of Invention and, um... Immitation

If you've ever been a nursing mom, you know that finding clothes that 'work,' is absolutely essential. Even with a fantastic nursing cover, it's so easy to have several wardrobe malfunctions in one sitting, especially with a hungry, energetic little babe...and this is NOT something you want to happen in the church lobby. NO. I've been weary of wearing the same two skirts to church for 10 weeks (and even slipped in some jeans, which I don't want to make a habit of). But I don't really want to spend big bucks on a whole new wardrobe either. So, I've been on the lookout for some patterns (well...not patterns, I hate patterns....more like 'ideas.') that would work well for this season of life, would be easy and cheap to make, and would sit nicely atop my nursing tanks. Then I saw this! I'm going to switch out the elastic part (elastic = nemesis) for a nice front tie that is easily maneuvered during feeding time, and I'll let you know how it works! I picked up some clearance fabric with these tops in mind a while back:



There is hope, nursing mothers! Now if I could only fit into my pre-pregnancy pants...there's time yet. :)

Flipbook Friday

The Boppy Pillow :: Part 1
(posted in order, as taken)


"Oh, hi Momma!"


"Do you want some?"


"Well that's fine. More for me!"


"Momma, there's no milk in my hands!"


"So I'll do a little dance instead."


"Why aren't you dancing?"


"It's really fun!"


"Okay, you see how, now?"


"But I'm a little tired..."


"So I'll just clap my hands."


"Um, whoa. Where am I?"


Shimmy. shimmy...


"Momma, you're super pretty..."


"Could I maybe have some milk now?"


"Please?"


"PLEASE!!!??"


"Oh, the agony..."


"I'm asking SO nicely!"


The binky intervention:


"Now I'm really sleepy."


"Thanks, Momma."


"I'm back on top, baby!"


*Note* The Little Mister did get his milk immediately following this. :)

Adding to the Beauty

"I want to add to the beauty, I want to tell a better story." If you haven't heard that song by Sara Groves, you need to go listen to it. Now.

Hmm. where do you start after an almost 2-year blogging hiatus? Here are a few things you've missed (unless, of course, you know me in real life!)

This:


and this:


and this:



My cup overflows.

The Mister and I were blessed with a Little Mister a couple of months ago, and we've experienced so much of God's providence and beauty through being parents. Wow. Understatement of the year!

I want this to be a space where you and I are encouraged to remember. Remember grace, remember beauty, remember God's redemption story, remember how we are actually included in it. And also to share in the details of the good life: the meal-sharing, the home-making, the song-singing.

"And this is grace: an invitation to be beautiful....Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces, calling out the best of who we are."

Let's add to the beauty together,

Sarah Marie