* Time for Nothing

I have been accused at times of having too many things on my plate, of trying to do too much, etc. Some times those accusations are accurate, but mostly I find that they are not. Judged from the outside we can not tell when 'much' is 'too much' for someone else. (Although I have been more tempted to say little is too little to people who claim busy-ness of which I see no evidence) How is one to defend against such a claim "you are doing too much"? I have used the tactic of telling them when I last took a nap, or when I last allowed entirely too much television for one day, just because I didn't feel like getting off the couch myself. These rebuttals have never worked overmuch, mostly because the well meaning person doesn't believe the claims. I do seem to do a lot of random stuff. I am a home school mom - I do several hours a week at the co op to get a tuition break -Judah and I volunteer with our children's ministry and college/high school students - I do a lot of laundry (see previous posts of random tasks, there have been a few - If I knew how to do that clever linking thing I would) - I scrapbook, quite a lot actually - I read, quite a lot actually. This list does not seem to me too much.

Why? Because I still have time for nothing. There are hours of unscheduled time when I can do any number of things - the blessing of being a stay at home mom. Granted, many free moments are dictated by the younger members of our household, but this is what I wanted when I signed up for having children. I am a big believer in rest - ask my mom how often she came home to a napping Michelle growing up. One of my favorite Sunday morning classes was one on the scriptural support to taking a nap - thank you Barry Fowler (circa 1998). I think God wants us to rest - thus the Sabbath concept, intended as a gift to us not a burden. The flip side to that gift of rest is the concept of filling your other time with work. If you are to appreciate the rest, you must work first. I think scheduled rest is a great idea for everyone - mark in on your calendar the way you would an 'appointment.' My plate is not overfull, but I certainly enjoy my rest. In order to get the full gift of life, work hard, and make time for nothing.

* Waiting for Spring

As February continues to move past us I have now decided that I am ready for Spring. When we were out last weekend it seemed clear that everyone else was too, suddenly there were twice the amount of vehicles on the road everywhere we went. Like folks had been in hibernation until the first sign of consistent sixty degree days. Now they are out scurrying about.

The kids are outside most days now, and we have a small pile of muddy shoes at the back door. My son is moving into my daughters way of thinking - wanting to wear shorts whenever possible- he told me this morning that once you are outside and in the sun and moving around it really gets quite warm. His motion was denied and he was forced to continue with long sleeves and pants. My daughter has always been in denial of the season. I tried moving the clothes to a top shelf in her closet. She merely moved the rocking ottoman over, placed a stool ON TOP OF IT and climbed up to retrieve her wanted articles of clothing. I could have boxed them up I suppose, but that seemed extreme. So we continue to compromise with mismatched outfits of long sleeve shirts covered by tank tops, jeans under skirts, and other layered looks that made me a little squirmy for their lack of overall matching color scheme.

Spring is still a few weeks in coming, but there are some buds on our trees and I hope they do not fall prey to another severe frost like they have the past few years. Our weather here is weird and prone to sudden March and April frosts for no reason except to maim the early risers of my flower beds. I am ready for days when I can walk outside without thinking about a jacket for myself or others. I am ready to grill more food, particularly since that means someone else will be doing the grilling. I am ready for capris, which are a favorite clothing staple of mine in the questionable seasons of spring and fall. I am also ready for the electricity bill to drop, which has been at an all time high for us, twice what it was last year.

Mostly, however, I am ready for the smell of green. The smell of things that are growing and fresh, the smell that means spring is here. We will be trying a garden again this year and I am looking forward to it. The garden area has been well maintained by my children through the fall and winter, a site of frequent digging. The tiller will not be as essential this year. May you catch a spring breeze today that reminds you that all winters come to an end.

Communication....

Communication is one of the things that I tend to "pride" myself in doing well (no comments from my friends in Memphis reading this). I am very big about people being and acting the same in all settings. I understand that we have different "hats" such as dad, husband, friend, teacher, boss, employee, etc. and that these require different skills, emotions, sounds, talks, euphemisms, etc. For most, this translates to acting a certain way in one setting, and acting a different way in another setting. For example, my boss would not take to kindly to me slinging a light saber around during a meeting, while I spoke to him in a broken "Irish accented" pirate dialect. This type of action may communicate very well to my son, but is not the place for a business meeting. As some would say, "there is a time and a place for everything."

Recently, I finished teaching a series at church and summarized it with: "being the same in all settings". In other words, act like a Christian at work, at home, at church, on vacation, shopping, etc. Christiainity is asking what Jesus would do when you are driving to work, buying a car, filing your taxes, and even sitting in the pews on Sundays. Depending on the setting, it should not be a surprise to someone who knew you how you would act. We still need to do our jobs. We just need to do them the way Jesus would do them.

Well, it occurred to me that I may not be as open as I thought I was. So, in an attempt to act the same, or at least not hide my emotions as much in all settings (to some degree) has brought some interesting results. People have started asking me, "what's wrong?" more frequently. I have gotten in more, "heated debates" over my open views about certain things. And still others have expressed their concern about my actions, and how it seemed as if I had "too much on my plate". All this, even though from my perspective I am still as "busy" as I usually am. The only difference is that I am a little more open (transparent) about my emotions or thoughts.

Is it possible that when someone says, "be yourself", what they are really meaning is, "act the way I assume is yourself?" I don't know; just me being open....

* Another Random Day of a SAHM

Yesterday was yet another day of various and unrelated activities. A snap shot of our day...

• Three loads of dishes in the dishwasher (this is a sad commentary that I let my sink overflow to the amount that it took two loads to clear it out, and then another load after dinner)
• Constructing a diorama of an underwater scene for a first grade science fair project. We let this one go until the day before it was due. We did however do all the other home school subjects in advance, leaving us the entire day to create the project. Deep breath for mom so that she allows the project to look like a first grade project.
• Cleaning the downstairs in preparation for guests (college students). A slow, tedious, band aid removal one hair at a time type of process, which requires mom to stand there and keep small children focused on cleaning.
• Slide preparation for our children's ministry at church. Three weeks of skits - done, now Judah can tweak them to his hearts content.
• Seven trips in and out of the house to play in the snow, which has turned into more of an ice masquerading as snow substance. This hybrid substance leaves deep nasty gashes on little girls foreheads. (He wasn't aiming for her HEAD, just her person in general) We are now sporting a very lovely Hello Kitty Band aid.
• Breakfast (cereal and milk - spilled on the carpet), lunch, (corn dogs), and a big dinner complete with homemade noodles, flank steak, and steamed broccoli with mustard glaze. The dinner makes up for the sad little lunch.
• There were also phone calls, a paper to edit, emails, and other general chaos to manage, including a computer that is beginning to get quite temperamental..

That was yesterday...

The Day After

Well, this day has taken a long time to get to, but it is finally here. Today is the day after our first Family Production at Farragut. We no longer do Sunday school in the traditional sense of the term. Every week, we have a family production that includes singing, skits, and story time for about 40 minutes, then the kids are broken up into small groups for wrap up. The parents have their own class during small groups that covers different topics from how to talk to your children about God, to what the virtue of the week is. It is a lot of time, a lot of work, and takes a lot of volunteers, but seeing the kids excited, and hearing them talking to their parents about it was definitely worth it. I am greatful to God for paving the way to this change in philosophy.