Mary Moments

 

Yesterday at a MOPS planning meeting I was given a sheet of paper with questions regarding mothering.  I gave it a quick glance and figured I would take a closer look at it later on in the evening when I had more time to really consider the answers I would potentially give.  But in my quick glance, one question (or should I say, PART of a question) stayed firm in my thoughts.

The question read:

What is your philosophy, basis or core values for mothering?

Honestly, I have no idea how I would answer that at the moment.  The part which stuck out was the following statement:

“You can answer this with a scripture, quote, idea or anything that will give us an idea of where you are coming from as a mother”

There it is!  Scripture!!

You know, as moms there are many go-to scriptures we cling to.  In fact, I googled “Scriptures for moms” and here are some of the verses that came up….

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” –Psalm 46:1

“She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.” –Proverbs 31:26

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” – Proverbs 22:6

“Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire.” – Proverbs 29:17

Don’t get me wrong here.  These are GREAT scriptures!!  And there are many more I could list here, but there is one verse I wish were also listed.  In fact, when it comes to my journey as a mom, it’s my all-time favorite!

Want to know what it is?   I can’t wait to tell you!!

Luke 2:19 –

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

WOW!!!! 

Do you realize how incredible that verse is??  

Mary had just given birth to Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, in a barn no less.  A multitude of angels appeared to shepherds to declare the arrival which led them to race to the stable to welcome the baby.  This was an incredible experience for young Mary.  And what does she do?  She quietly meditates on it, pondering all that has happened in her heart. 

In this context, the term ‘pondering’ means ‘to keep safe’.  She didn’t want to let these experiences and memories slip away from her.  They were too special! 

As moms, it’s so easy to let a busy schedule, crazy households and nonstop kids distract us from the preciousness of the season of life we are in.  We don’t get to have young kids at home forever.  They will grow.  They will start to be a bit more independent.  Eventually, it will be time for them to leave the house.   Then we are left wishing we had those times back. 

Even the difficult moments! 

If you take anything away from this blog, please take this:

Take time to have Mary moments!  Treasure up those times with your kids and ponder them in your heart.  Grab hold of this precious season in your life and savor it.  This time in our lives only happens once!  Hold onto it tightly and keep those moments safe in your heart.   

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”   

Individual Reconsideration

The other day I was conversing with someone when they surprised me by sharing a concern.

To paraphrase, the main concern was that I was not identifying myself as Krista anymore but allowing my role in life and surrounding circumstances identify who I am.

It was an interesting concern and one I had never heard expressed to me before but it got me thinking. 

Who really am I? 

If you were to ask me 10 years ago who I was, the reply was simple.  I was simply Krista.  I was a confident individual.  I was busy with many activities and work.  I was engaged but still able to hold my individual place in this world. 

That was who I was.  But not necessarily who I am now.  And you know what?  I LOVE THAT FACT!!!

As I thought and pondered this person’s concern for me, I felt excited and blessed by the fact that indeed, I do not identify myself as just Krista anymore. 

Let me explain.

Over the past 10 years my identity has, in fact, changed.  I am a wife, a mother of four, I have a deeper relationship with Christ, I have developed new hobbies, I have made new, lifelong friends, I actually know my career of choice and have plans to pursue it.  By a large margin, I am not the same person I was 10 years ago. 

Now brace yourself because here’s where my epiphany happened!

I wouldn’t even WANT to identify myself as just Krista anymore.  

Seeing myself as an individual is so flat and boring.  It’s the people in my life and the roles I play in other people’s lives that give my life depth and meaning.  I feel more blessed today than I did 10 years ago and the change that happened was my focus shifted away from me as an individual.

I have not lost sight of who I am, but rather have expanded on who I am. 

I am still strong, confident Krista who likes to read while taking scalding hot baths.  It’s just now I get to have kids pounding on the door and a husband peaking in periodically too. 

….. and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Getting in the Picture

I enjoy scrapbooking.  I wouldn’t say I’m naturally crafty or talented at it but I do enjoy sitting down with pictures of my kids and arranging them in fun, colorful ways to capture the memories of their childhood.  But whenever I get to the pages where I want to include pictures of each child with Andrew and myself, I always discover someone missing…… ME!!!!

Are there any other moms out there who find this to be true?  Do you ever look through pictures of your kids and find that you spend more time behind the camera than in front of it?

I was very conscious of my aversion to the camera and very aware of the times I would purposefully dodge the camera. 

The reason – because instead of capturing the extra baby weight, the unkempt hair, my lack of make-up, or less-than-fashionable wardrobe, it’s just easier for me to stand behind the camera and capture each milestone my kids reach.

But recently I read an article that challenged me by asking the question, “do your kids care?” 

Do your kids care about the extra pounds you may have gained while carrying them inside you? 

Do your kids care whether or not you’re able to stand in front of the mirror for 15 minutes that morning to make yourself presentable?

Do your kids care that you haven’t been able to afford new clothes recently?

The only thing your kids really care about is that you are their mom.  We aren’t going to be around forever and someday a time will come when we aren’t able to be in our children’s lives anymore.  At that point, it is vitally important that we leave behind memories and photos for our children to hold onto and cherish. 

I want my kids to be able to look back on their childhood photos someday and be able to see their mom.  To see that I was, at one point, young, active and every bit involved in their lives.  And the thing that I realized is that whereas I see pictures of myself and start picking apart all the negatives, my kids look at pictures and just see their mommy. 

So here’s my challenge for all of you.  Don’t dodge the camera.  Get in front of it!  Capture memories with your kids for them to keep even after we’ve past. 

 

Confessions from an imperfect mom

Yesterday was just “one of those days”.  You know the kind, right?  When things seem out of control and you can’t get anything to go right.  I posted on my facebook status:

“You know those moments where you laugh because otherwise you'll cry? Yup, having one of those moments right now.”

Today a friend came up to me and thanked me for it.  Why?  Because, especially as moms, we tend to forget we are not the only ones who have bad days.  It was refreshing for her to know she wasn’t the only one who had those days where you all you feel like doing is crying. 

So today, let me just put it out there just in case anyone is feeling like they’re the only ones who struggle ….. I’m not a perfect mom! 

There have been days and situations where, instead of keeping cool and calm, I completely fly off the handle and have to go back to kids to seek forgiveness because I didn’t respond and act as I should have. 

There have been times when I have locked myself in the bathroom (because it’s the only locking door) and dissolved in tears.

There have been moments where I have been completely clueless to know what to do or say and all I can think of is to cry out to the Lord a single word…. “HELP!” 

But I have to be honest, amongst my times of wanting to give up, I get glimpses of sunshine that show me I must be doing something right. 

Like when Adam and Emma thank Andrew and I for making their dinner every evening, or the random hugs around my waist with “I love you, Mommy”.  The smiles, the giggles and the snuggles. 

I realize I’m certainly not perfect and there are many things I’m working on daily to improve, but when I see my kids playing contently together, laughing together and loving each other, it helps me realize that despite my missteps, the good far outweighs the difficult.

I know it’s easy to focus on everything that’s falling apart around us and all the things giving in to chaos, but take a moment (because that’s usually all the time we have) to catch a ray of sun so you can confidently tell yourself, “I must be doing something right”. 

Where are we now??

This past weekend my husband and I packed up our kids and took a much-needed trip to Eastern Washington to visit my grandparents.  While we were there we decided to take a bit of time one evening to drive to my aunt’s home for a quick visit.  My grandma gave me the directions and we set out on a short 15 minute drive to her home.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that having directions in hand means very little since I have a tendency to “take the scenic route” to places.  Ending up at the ferry docks in Mukilteo in an attempt to find I-5 from the Alderwood mall seems to come to mind.  This adventure seemed to prove no different. 

Let me start by saying, this is a very small farming town.  There are not many roads which means, less options to take a wrong turn.  However, I managed to make several.

Our “5 miles outside of town” ended up with us in the next town 10 miles away.  We turned around, called my grandpa for some clarification on a street name (which had him asking astonished, “You’re where?!”) and we headed back. 

Finally found the correct street and started looking for the next road we were to turn on.  Up and down the road we drove, looking everywhere for the correct street.  Turned down one but ended up being a very bumpy dead end.  Called back at my grandparent’s house and talked to my grandma, “It just smells like onions out here!!”  

Thankfully, she stayed on the phone with me until I found the correct road and YES! found my aunt’s house.  We had a lovely time with them and made it back to my grandparent’s home with no trouble.

So what should have been a 15 minute drive turned into 45 minutes.  But does this really surprise anyone?  I just had an adventure!!

You know your house is small when….

I’ve always known my house was small.  We live in a tiny (870sq. ft), two bedroom home.  Yes, and we have three kids…… with one on the way!  We are a little bit squeezed for space.  But one of the fun things to do while living in a small house is recognizing the unique things that we get to experience that those who live in larger houses don’t. 

So, in honor of one of my favorite comedians, Jeff Foxworthy, today we have -

You know your house is small when….

You know your house is small when you can vacuum the entire house without moving the plug-in to a different outlet.

You know your house is small when you can paint the entire exterior of the house with barely over 2 gallons of paint

You know your house is small when you have absolutely no use for a baby monitor

You know your house is small when you look at other houses and realize you don’t have enough furniture to fill even half of it.

You know your house is small when you have to turn the tv down to volume number 5 to keep from hearing it in all the rest of the house.

 

Feel free to add a comment with your own take on “You know your house is small when….” 

Amazing Race–Hike #2

Last weekend the Nature Chicks completed the second hike of the United General Amazing Race!  The hike was at Sugarloaf Mountain in Anacortes and it was beautiful. 

At first we were unsure of whether or not we would be able to go out and hike because of a thunderstorm that rolled in only a couple hours before we were scheduled to head out.  But thankfully the rains past just in time affording us perfect hiking weather. 

There is just something about walking through the woods, listening to the scattered rain drops on the trees above that is absolutely relaxing and wonderful.  I realize, being in late June, we expect to have the summer sun and warm temperatures but I do prefer the coolness of the Pacific Northwest…. makes for a more comfortable hike as well.

 

Our hike began around Mt. Erie although we were actually going up to Sugarloaf. 

 

 

A couple pictures from the hike…

 

 

 

 

At the top of the trail we got to experience a breath-taking view of the San Juan Islands.  Pictures don’t even do it justice because the view was absolutely amazing…

 

 

 

It’s true, we live in an area with 7 + months of rain, very little sun and temperatures barely surpassing 85 at the hottest, but when you look at the beautiful nature around us it makes the mild weather all worth it. 

 

Stay tuned for Hike #3 coming up!