My friend and women's bible study leader, Laurie, shared with me how she writes down ten things or so that she learns each month into a journal. She suggested that I might like to do the same, since we both agree that for busy moms like us, a quick list of items is much more feasible than trying to commit to journal writing. It has been neat to be able to go back over what I wrote and I wanted to share it with you.
The idea comes from a blog called "Chatting at the Sky". Emily, the writer, is a North Carolinian like I used to be and I'm linking up with her today. Hope you enjoy my September lessons!
1. I should not try to have discussions with my husband about things that are bothering me (about him) early in the morning. I have a tendency to let him know right away how I feel. Even though I'm glad I don't stuff my feelings, I do need to work on my timing. Lest I want to start the day off poorly, I had better keep my mouth shut before he's had a cup of coffee.
2. Waiting until the storage on my phone is completely full with pictures and videos before deciding to transfer them to my computer and save them is not a good idea. This literally takes half a day and then gives me a stinky attitude since I'm not very tech savvy.
3. Think before you type and send. Those of you who know me well, know I'm not a fan of football. A friend of mine posted on Facebook something about being excited for a football game and before I knew it I wrote, "Football sucks," on her timeline. I then had to go back and re-write an apology because I wasn't sure if she would take it lightly or unfriend me.
4. Expect something out of the ordinary to happen when your husband goes out of town. It always does. My husband works nearly 365 days a year in the service department of a car dealership, except the few weeks he travels out of town for business. This month my truck's battery decided to die while he was out of town. Thankfully, it was parked in the garage and not out on the road somewhere!
5. My children are mostly well-behaved. I had the pleasure of volunteering in Jenna's class this month and I'm happy to report that she is one of the better behaved students in the class. It was shocking how disruptive and disrespectful many of the children were. What was wonderful though, was how I got to see the fruits of all the hard work I have done thus far in teaching her right from wrong and disciplining her. I'm proud that I've created firm boundaries, told her "no" even when it was hard, and taught her that she is to listen to and respect adults. I know I don't always get it right and I know she won't either, but it was nice to finally feel good about my choices as a parent, instead of always feeling guilty.
6. Number 5 was a great introduction to my next lesson. I'm glad I didn't become a Kindergarten teacher. I thought in high school that I wanted to be a elementary school teacher and it still sounds fun if I would have nice, gentle, well behaved boys and girls. But, the reality is that leading children is not for the faint of heart. Jenna's teachers have an extreme amount of patience and endurance to deal with all the energy, distractibility, and lack of self discipline five-year-olds possess. I came away from volunteering in Jenna's class with a fond appreciation for what teachers do daily.
7. I enjoy gardening and working outside, especially with my dad. I'm not quite sure what it is about growing something like plants or flowers that appeals to me. Maybe it's that nurturing instinct within me. But whatever it is, I love it. Somehow, when my parents are here, I always manage to get my dad to help me in the yard. I don't really know how he feels about it, but I like working side by side with him. I feel a closeness and a bond with him when we're working together.
8. Omitting dairy from my diet helps my acne. When I turned thirty, it seemed like I began to break out again like when I was a teenager. I tried tons of products, which mostly failed because they are made and marketed to teens. I read some research online that suggested dairy may be a trigger of acne flare ups. Although not solid evidence, I decided to give it a shot, since nothing else I tried seemed to be working. Now, I'm not completely acne free, but a lot better and the pimples I do get are manageable with a good cleansing routine.
My parents are here this week from North Carolina. It is such a blessing to have them here. They let me slip away to go shopping or get my hair done. And, anytime I have extra hands to grab something one of the girls needs, or help clean the kitchen after dinner, it is a huge help.
One of the things I like to do with my mom and dad is reminisce about times when I was growing up and some of the things I said as a child.
For example, when I would go swimming, I would put on my "babin' suit", instead of bathing suit. My parents thought it was so cute, they didn't correct me for a long time, so that they could keep hearing how cute it was and chuckle to themselves.
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| My little Carissa in what she calls her "babin' soup". |
I must have been around twelve years old before I learned the correct pronunciation, because I can remember being at my aunt's pool when I found out and being laughed at by my older cousins. I remember feeling completely embarrassed. I wanted to go under the water and not come back up for a long time. Later, I asked them why in the world they would do such a thing? I don't remember what they said their reasoning was, but I guess it was the same reason I was in a heated argument at ten years old with a girl in my fourth grade class about how ridiculous she was to believe Santa wasn't real.
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| My mother, Julia, and Jenna. Jenna adores her Granna. |
Now that I'm a mother, I understand why. My children help me keep my sense of humor and I love to hear them say things the "wrong" way. I think it's a way to preserve their youth; to capture those moments that we will talk about someday. That is why I do these tweets. I don't know how long it will last since my Jenna is in kindergarten now and I certainly don't want to embarrass her, but hopefully I still have a little time on my side.
My three tweets today are a few of my favorite mispronunciations:
1. "pootfrints" (footprints) Jenna (my oldest)
2. "pucky dog" (puppy dog) Carissa
3. "movie-ater" (movie theater) both girls..lol..guess Carissa copied Jenna
Last week, some missionary friends of ours came to visit. I deeply enjoy the time I have with them and I'm often left with the feeling that the time I share with them is never enough. They have amazing stories to tell about what they are doing in Ethiopia and I'm captivated like a child at the movie theater for the first time.
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My dear missionary friends and their family.
photo property of The Post Family
www.mymministries.org |
Ahhh, missionary. The sound of the word conjures up thoughts of people traveling across the globe. People who've decided to give up the comforts of American pleasures and pack up their families and belongings to start a life anew. A life in a place where there are language barriers. A life where there is no cable TV, McDonald's, or American football. Missionaries are people who have decided that leading people to Christ is more important than their luxuries. They obediently answer a call from God to go and spread the Good News of salvation, sometimes even risking their lives.They are living out one of, I think, the most difficult commands in the Bible, denying ourselves (Mark 8:34-35).
When I sit back and listen to my friends talk about their struggles and successes, I'm in awe of their devotion, commitment, and perseverance. They are doing exactly what Jesus instructed his disciples to do when he gave his final words before ascending into heaven. These words, called the Great Commission, told the disciples (and now all Christians) to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20).
Now, I have to tell you something about being friends with missionaries. I sometimes feel like I'm not as "Christian" as they are. Granted, I know they are not perfect and have strongholds just like every other person, but it looks to me like they are doing exactly what I feel I'm failing in.
I know it is not every person's calling to go across the globe. Global missions is probably something the Yates family will never do.
So, I was struggling with the feelings of inadequacy and feeling like a small loser. The Enemy was probably holding his head back, laughing like "HA! HA! HA!, I've got you right where I want you." Then something happened. Something that at first seemed like a bad thing. Our AC went out on Friday afternoon right before Labor Day weekend.
I was almost in disbelief at the timing of it all. It was a long, difficult week for Jason and I, and this really put a damper on the weekend and it hadn't even started. I remembered other people looking for recommendations about various things like babysitters and home repairs on Facebook. So I went online to ask for a recommendation and within minutes, people were giving me phone numbers of various companies they used.
I called one company and was excited they could come out on such short notice. The nice gentleman showed up at 4:30 pm on Friday and of course, he could not order the blower motor we needed until Tuesday, which meant no AC for us until Tuesday or maybe even Wednesday.
So I began to pray. I know to some of you may think it's silly to pray for cold air, but I thought of a verse Jenna learned in school this same week, "Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7 NKJV)." Notice this says all your cares, not just the ones you perceive would be of importance to God. I reasoned if God really wants me to cast all my cares, it couldn't hurt to throw this AC thing up to Him. So, I stood right there in the garage, looking up at the attic where the unit is located, and prayed over the AC unit.
Right after walking in from the garage, I went to my Facebook page and saw that a friend of ours left a comment reminding me of a guy, we'll call him Wally, that my husband's workplace employs for their heating and cooling needs. We called Wally and he said he would be out first thing Saturday morning, even though it was his day off.
Wally traveled to get the part we needed, got here early on Saturday morning, and had our AC up and running within two hours. Thank you Jesus!
In the meantime, we got five offers from friends in our church family to come over at various times on the long weekend, so we wouldn't have to endure the hot, humid ninety degree weather.
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| We ended up at the beach on Labor Day! |
We didn't accept any of our friends' offers, but their generosity taught me a valuable lesson. I don't have to travel across the globe to help someone or to be the hands of Jesus. I say this in no way to minimize global missions, because missions is of massive importance. Rather, I'm suggesting that maybe the Enemy uses guilt or feelings of inadequacy to cause us to be ineffective and not help people right where we are.
Sometimes we can sit around waiting for an opportunity or waiting for God to give us a big sign of what we should do next, when what He really wants us to do is to focus on being obedient in our daily encounters and daily relationships.
There are so many needs that need to be met today, so many people hurting that need us to show them Jesus' love. This hymn, "Brighten the Corner Where You Are", beautifully encourages that we can be "light" and hope right now, right where we are.
Do not wait until some deed of
greatness you may do,
Do not wait to shed your light afar;
To the many duties ever near you
now be true.
Brighten the corner where you are.
I.D. Ogden, 1913
I feel so blessed and thankful to have a church family and friends that showed me the love of Jesus on that hot, Friday afternoon. It may not have seemed like a big deal to them to extend their kindness, but it meant a huge deal to me. Thank you friends for brightening my corner.
Dear Lord, Thank you for my corner, where you've placed me and for the friends that reached out to me when I was struggling. I confess I sometimes worry and fret about my purpose. Give me eyes to see the needs around me and help me to be obedient to meet those needs, no matter how small I perceive them to be. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Prayer Requests
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