Brave

I've been thinking a lot about the song Brave by Nichole Nordeman in relationship to my life.

In general, I don't think I am brave. I'm scared of bugs. I hate the dark. Trying to sleep when my husband isn't home is pretty much a useless task--I hear every bump in the night.

But I've noticed that something changes when I am with my kids.

The lyrics say:
So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave

Suddenly when I'm with my little ones, all of the things that concern me are no longer concerns. I found myself walking with my Sophie through the woods this weekend, nonchalantly mentioning that we had to be careful as to not run into spider webs. I had to make myself not think about it all terribly hard or I would have gotten squeamish. Instead, I focused on my sweet girl and enjoying the great outdoors.

Prayer

Do I believe in the power of prayer?
I thought that the answer to this question was easy. Of course I do. I've prayed my entire life for a multitude of reasons. It has always seemed to come pretty easily.

Lately, though, I've begun to think a little harder on the subject.

My husband and I joined a small group (Bible study) for parents. The only details I knew, or really cared about, when signing up was that it was for parents and it would meet in the same town on the same night as my son's small group.

I was pleasantly surprised to find, after being contacted by the leaders of the group, that the study would be on The Power of a Praying Parent. I already had the book. I'd bought it soon after my husband and I married. Had I read it? No... I'd started, but then life happened. Doesn't life always seem to get in the way?

So Kev and I began the book. The chapters are short and are followed by a sample prayer and verses. Some are on topics that I've considered, and some have never before even crossed my mind, but I've found that I have prayed on very few of the topics.

Why? Why wouldn't I pray for my children, for my husband, for my marriage in earnest? If I truly believe in the power of prayer, why haven't I used it as the biggest tool in my arsenal? What am I waiting for?

Cleaning out the Clutter

We are pile-makers in my house. I have always been a pile-maker. I married a pile-maker. It's not the best combination for maintaining a clutter free household.

One of the places in my house that is notorious for attracting clutter is end of my counter.

Well, yesterday, I took charge. I moved my beloved KitchenAid stand mixer to the end of the counter.

Aren't you glad I wore pants when I took that?
Not that I wouldn't normally wear pants...

Her (Yes, her. Her name is Ruby.) new location makes good organizational sense for a couple of reasons. First of all, she's beautiful. Why wouldn't I want to display her proudly so she is one of the first things you see upon entering my kitchen? Secondly, I use Ruby quite often. In order to use her, I have to slide her forward, as she's under a under-cabinet-cd player. I won't be able to slide her forward if there is clutter on the counter. Thirdly, the very size of Ruby cuts down on the amount of space available for clutter in that area.

My husband is cynical. I will do my best to prove him wrong. Ruby and I are a team!

After the Storm

You know, I think it's true that the lows that we experience help us to truly enjoy the highs.

My family is coming off of a nasty stomach bug that took nearly all of us out over the last few days.

In the dark of night, when I was in the throws of it all, I tried to keep the perspective that it would not last forever. I kept hearing the lyric, "Though the sorrow may last for the night, the joy comes with the morning." Although it lasted past the morning, my son, my husband, my parents, and I all felt better and better throughout the day.

This morning, my sister is sick. She started in sometime yesterday afternoon. I offered her my perspective on the situation, and she's trying to stay positive as well.

Progress?

I've done well with my quest to get back on the vacuuming wagon. I've done so every night of this year. My hubby has helped once or twice, but it has come back to the forefront of my mind. This is good.

I need to apply this strategy to other areas of my life. My weight, for instance, has become an issue with me lately. It has been slowly creeping up since the birth of my son, but I'm beginning to feel it. I'm 31 years old and I have less energy than I should.

Although I'm not at the point of being obese, I feel I need to get this under control now. I don't want to feel old.

So yesterday I decided to re-educate myself on food. I went to mypyramid.gov and printed out a ton of info on all of the food groups. I customized a plan for myself, regarding how many calories I should be eating and how many of each food group I should be eating to get those calories. I printed out food journals to keep track of my daily intake of each of the food groups and how much physical exercise I have done.

My goal is to journal my food intake in my binder for 30 days. At that point, either journalling will have become a habit and I will continue, or a new awareness of food will have become a habit and I won't need to journal.

I hope to find myself making progress through these steps. I think I've finally figured out that the only way I can change is through a concious introduction of a new and healthier habit. It's interesting to learn new things about myself.