Tag: #workingmom

Faith

Extra, Extra

Sam

Last Thanksgiving my friend put out a text message to our small group asking if anyone had a fancy place setting that they could use for a video for church. We all know that the text was meant for one person and one person only… me. Of course, I have holiday place settings around my table that we must move every time we eat because my kids are heathens when eating and I don’t want my place settings to actually be used…. They are just for looks. Duh.

Do I also do matching PJs on Christmas morning? Yes. Family Halloween costumes? You know it. Matching shirts we all wear on vacations? Usually. Did I throw my dog a 1st birthday party? I wanted an excuse to have cake. Elaborate teacher gifts? Look, they deserve the most elaborate gift in the world for dealing with my kids.

I wear makeup most days, curl my hair, and have worn heals to a bonfire.

I have a closet that is full of gifts in case someone springs a party on me last minute and I also have a cabinet in my kitchen just for when I host gatherings.

I have been accused and found guilty of being “extra”.

Most of my friends mean it in a pretty positive light. For example, when one of my best friends needs Christmas trees for a photo session and I happen to have 6 she can borrow. Or when we do a girl’s trip and no one needs to know anything but to be awake at 6 am because I’ve already got our ride to the airport figured out, boarding passes downloaded and a full itinerary planned. No one complains then….

But sometimes, I have a few people (usually who I am not super close to) call me “extra” in a way that is meant to shame me. It is hard to explain… but it is almost like because I find joy (and I would even call it a gifting) in what they would say are superficial things that I am somehow “less than”. Or I am impractical or lack common sense. Or that I care more about the world and looks than people and Jesus.

I don’t think it helps that I have seen sermon after sermon, and a lot of devotionals about how you should be a Mary not a Martha. And no, I am not referring to Martha Stewart…. Although can we just pause to acknowledge that 1) what a coincidence both their names are Martha and 2) what a shame it is that there is an entire generation who probably doesn’t know who Martha Stewart is???? No lie, I was once asked if I could meet two people (dead or alive) who would I choose? And I seriously said Jesus and Martha Stewart….. anyways.

If you aren’t familiar with this particular part of the Bible, here it is:

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

First, I’d like to take a pause here and insert my husband’s name into this passage at times for Mary…. I know it is a running joke that right before a party all husband’s find the most absurd thing to “help” with… like cleaning the gutters. My husband has taken it one step further and is now indoctrinating our kids. We were about to host people the other day and my oldest decided that was the perfect time to clean his room… nope, he decided he needed to use the backpack blower to rake leaves.

In all seriousness though I sympathize with Martha in this passage. She’s doing all the work, and she just wants some help. However, the Lord urgently says that Martha isn’t focused on the right thing, but Mary is. (I always choose to think Jesus said it not in a harsh, loud urgent way… but more of a “oh my dear child, listen to me” way).

Anyways, the gist is that Jesus wasn’t going to tell Mary to stop listening to Him in order to help Martha.

In a lot of devotionals and sermons on this passage it is pointed out that we all need to stop worrying about this world, and the to-do lists, and we need to rest in the eternal peace only Jesus can bring. We need to focus on the one thing that is needed. Jesus. Which is 100% true.

However……

Let me point out a few things.

  • Jesus went to MARTHA’S house. Not Mary’s, not their brother Lazarus’ house. Martha’s.

My non-bible school interpretation of this? Jesus was hungry and tired, and he knew Martha could cook and take care of him and his whole gang of friends. Do you know how rare it was that it was Martha’s house during that time? A woman’s house? Rare, friend, rare. Martha made Jesus and his disciples felt so taken care of that they dropped in (somewhat) unannounced. Probably more than once.

  • Martha was loved by Jesus.

In John 11, in another passage Martha’s brother was sick and ended up dying and Jesus took His time to get to them. In the description of the family (Martha, Mary, and Lazarus) it is said “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” (John 11:5). I mean we are all loved by Jesus….. but it’s called out here to show just how close they are. Which means Martha knew God (and His word), loved God and loved His son, Jesus.

  • Jesus never told her to stop hosting or caring for others in her home…. She was told to stop worrying about it.

That might not seem like a big difference but to me it is.

A few years back I had a lot of shame when it came to this. I listened to those sermons and devotions saying, “Be a Mary in a Martha World”. So, I decided I’d try that advice. It was right before a party we were hosting. I remember vowing I was going to be a “Mary” not a “Martha”. I picked up the house a little, made some basic food, and settled in to sit like Mary did. Want to know what happened? My husband straight up panicked and thought I was mad at him because I didn’t give him his pre-party to-do list, my kids asked what activities I had planned, and I didn’t enjoy sitting as much as I thought I would.

My husband likes my to-do list (usually, I mean… as long as a house project isn’t on it), it tells him exactly what to do. In fact, if someone could tell me in detail exactly what to do I think I’d like that too.. anyways…. Also, my kids like when I plan fun traditions and make things special. And yes, they might get embarrassed taking in mini piñatas and nachos to their teachers, but you can bet they ask me what I am doing this year for their teachers.

Turns out I am a Martha.

And that is ok.

Jesus never asked Martha to not be Martha. Jesus saw Martha. Like He really saw her. He knew she was the one He could count on to take care of him. He knew she had an amazing gift for hosting and making people feel welcomed. AND He knows that the kingdom needs that. I mean most Churches have a whole hospitality team to make people feel welcomed and feel taken care of.

Christian’s all have a gift or talent we’ve been entrusted with to further God’s kingdom. Maybe yours is encouraging people, or maybe it is teaching, or helping or maybe it is healing, wisdom, prophecy, faith… there are several guys. And as it turns out in order to reach the MOST people to tell them about Jesus, we need all the gifts.

One person might shut down if you start teaching them right away. They might need to see you helping in action to realize they can trust the God you serve. But another person might need facts and truth, they value wisdom and although they acknowledge emotions, they like taking emotions out of decisions.

Here’s the thing, what Jesus was talking about to Martha… is that she needed to stop worrying about the task and focus on the reason. Not change her task per-se.

This means;

  • You might have to recognize that your need to be “right” or “seen” isn’t near as important as making sure the person comes to know Jesus.
  • You have to recognize when someone else’s gifting might be better in a situation. WE have to work together.
  • You can’t let your gifting be used for the wrong purpose or even “just because”. Your talent is a direct gift from God, use it for Him.
  • If you start to worry and stress about “doing” whatever you think you’re called to do, you need to re-exam if you have your priorities right.

Martha started to use her gift in a way that wasn’t accomplishing what she was meant to use it for. Her purpose was to serve Jesus. She did that usually very well, by serving his physical needs. But her sister is different and Martha can’t push that on her sister.

That’s what Jesus was telling Martha. He was saying; “Martha serve me whole heartedly, like your sister is doing right now.” He didn’t say serve me differently than how you are, just keep the main point the main point. Which is always Jesus.

I am proud to be a Martha. But from time to time, I do need the reminder that my calling is to be a child of God and to lead others to know Jesus, not to just host parties for no reason. However, if you do need a wooden sled to decorate with, themed dinnerware, baby girl shower décor, or just a place to drink fancy coffee from my coffee bar and talk about Jesus… I have that covered.

 

 

 

Faith

Hit Submit

Sam

This may come as a shock to you… but I am an opiniated, loud, and fiercely independent woman. Ha! If you’ve seen me watch any of my kids play sports or talk about budgets, this does not come as a shock to you.

Here’s the thing, I enjoy my career and it is a priority in my life. We also depend on my income and my husband’s. I like to share my thoughts, and sometimes I even have some good thoughts. I also don’t mind a good debate every now and then. And I have been known to call people out on things I feel are disrespectful. I don’t have any signs in my office that say Boss B, but I smile when I see those signs at Marshall’s. I also enjoy a good eyeroll when I don’t see women represented in certain leadership positions (*cough* School Board *cough*).

I believe, and I claim over my life that God made me this way. He made me passionate about the things I believe in and a desire to learn. He has blessed me with the career and job I have- which has led me to a stronger and more courageous faith. And He has flamed my desire to be independent and to teach others to be independent, so that at the end of the day we can rely solely on Him and be free of this world’s ways.

So imagine my utter surprise (and younger me’s utter disappointment) when He also told me I had to “submit” to my husband.

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. (Colossians 3:18)

Or… this verse…

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5:22-24)

I won’t lie, I did my best for a good part of my life to ignore this. Clearly this message was not intended for women of today. I mean when the Bible was written it was from a time when women had little to no rights, so surly that part of the Bible was a little outdated.

Yeah, no. The Bible is as relevant today as it was then, and will have the same amount of relevancy 1,000 years from today. God does not change with the times. The World changes with the times, and we are called to not live for this World but instead for eternal life and our promise of life beyond our time here.

Furthermore, I can argue that Jesus was actually very respectful with His interactions with women at the time, compared to others in society… so if He said wives need to submit to their husbands, well, then wives need to submit.

Unfortunately, I am not super submissive. In fact, I’d say I was the opposite of submissive because I am a control freak. But it’s cool because God made me that way. I trust that there is a way to be both a strong and independent women….. and a submissive wife and child of God. And I *think* our society and the enemy likes to tell us the lie that we have to choose. I’ll actually go one step further and say that the enemy is absolutely afraid that we will stumble on the truth that we are ALL called to be both.  And if we do embrace being strong and free and submissive… well then we wouldn’t fall into his trap and he’d be powerless.

Anyways… let me first tell you through trial and error a few things submission is NOT.

  • It is not being quiet. (Thank the Lord)
  • It is not letting someone tell you what to do without regards to your feelings or wellbeing.
  • It is not following someone without questions.
  • It is not doing everything from cleaning to cooking to childrearing to (fill in the blank) without expecting any help and with a smile on your face.
  • It is not being co-dependent.
  • It is not being a martyr.
  • It is not denying who God designed you to be… even if that person is loud (passionate) and independent (free).

There are a lot of other things submission is not. But from my very brief dabble in it, these are some things I’ve found submission IS.

  • It is asking your husband his opinion before your friends.
  • It is surrounding yourself with friends who build up their husbands.
  • It is supporting him and singing his praises.
  • It is giving him words of affirmation, acts of service, gifts, quality time, and physical touch.
  • It is praying for him and with him.
  • It is valuing his ideas and being thankful to his contributions to the household.
  • It is respecting him and not coveting a quality in him that is not there.
  • It is being a good reflection of him and complementing his identity.
  • It is being a united front.
  • It is trying to understand him.
  • It is learning from him.
  • It is holding him accountable.
  • It is accepting his love towards you.

Submission is between a wife and a husband because there is a covenant (or agreement) set up. So let me be clear. If one person is not holding up their end of the agreement, then the other part of the agreement or covenant starts to become void or needs restoration. So. If a wife or husband is being abused mentally, physically, or emotionally that’s a breakdown in the covenant. If there has been immoral conduct. That is a breakdown in the covenant.

God asks His people who have agreed to be in covenant with Him to obey His rules and submit to Him. If there is a breakdown in that agreement, if we can’t obey and submit, a new covenant has to be forged.

Spoiler alert…… we have broken our covenant with God a lot. Like so much. It started in the Garden of Eden and it continues today with every decision we make to be further away from Him.

You know what God calls our husbands to do for us, their wives? He says “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church”. You know what his ultimate display of love was? A sacrifice. We messed up our covenant with God so much that the only way to fix it. The only way to continue to have a relationship with God, was for either us or God to restore the covenant. God never broke the agreement. We did. So God did what no mother or father or grandparent or care giver in their right mind would do, and made a sacrifice so big, so pure, and so perfect…… He sacrificed His Son so that we could start anew. The sacrifice to end all sacrifices. And our end of the new agreement? We have to love God. And to love God is to know that His Son died on the cross to wipe away all our wrongs…..

Whew… to bring it all back around. Ladies, between the two of us- husbands and wives. We got the better end of the deal. We’ve got to submit. And yeah, that might be hard, especially when he hasn’t taken out the trash like he said he would 2 days ago….. but he’s called to sacrifice for us….. just like God sacrificed for us.

 

Faith, Family

Do You Want a Girl?

Sam

I’m a boy mom. I have three boys. They are all sooooo different, but when God was deciding what kids to bless me with He gave me three with…… well you know.

So, yeah, I get the question a lot on if I want a girl or will try for a girl.

And because I love and hate when people ask me this, if it’s OK with you I’d like to waste a couple minutes of your day talking about this question.

Do I want a girl? Or maybe a more accurate question would be: do I mourn the fact that I probably won’t have a mother/daughter relationship?

Um… yeah. For sure.

It goes without saying that I love my kids, and there isn’t a single one of them I would change or trade. I might change how one talks back to me and gives me attitude, but I wouldn’t change who God made them. I also LOVE having boys. And as much as I love those kids it doesn’t negate the fact that I probably won’t get to watch my husband take a daughter to a dance, or see how amazing my boys would be to a sister, or buy all the bows my heart desires. Or really anything cliché you might do with a girl vs. boy.

I have to talk myself out of wanting a girl sometimes. I have to list all the amazing reasons why having all boys is great. #1: At Disney we didn’t wait in line to meet a single Princess (again I know this is stereotypical, but it helps me cope). #2: I am the only girl in the house right now and I take advantage of it. #3: Hand me down clothes…. Haha…… just kidding….. if you know me I still buy an obscene amount of clothes for my youngest boy.

But anyways to be honest I think this…… wanting something you don’t have…… is something we all deal with.

Maybe you have all girls and you want a boy, or you don’t have kids but you want them. Maybe it isn’t about kids at all. Maybe you wish you had a different job. A different house. Different friends. A different spouse? I could probably make up a Dr. Seuss rhyme with all the things a person might want……

I fall into this “wanting more” category far too often. I am wired to look for the next best thing. When I was in high school and college I lived like this daily. It was pure survival mode for me. I needed to do well in high school so I could go to a good college, then I needed to do well there so I could get a good job. From there I needed to get married and have kids. Buy a house, search for a better job. Have another kid. Get a better house.

It was, and still is, an exhausting cycle I let myself get caught up in.

Maybe you get caught up in a similar cycle of wanting something you don’t have?

Or worse yet, maybe what you want, isn’t something as superficial as me wanting a girl, or a better house, or “fill in the blank”. Maybe what you want is that you aren’t in pain anymore from an illness, or your child isn’t sick anymore. Maybe you don’t want a better house, maybe you are just struggling to keep the house you have.

I am not that great at this, but I do know of a way to help break whatever cycle you might be in right now.

Paul writes to us in Philippians 4:12 and tells us:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

When I read this I always think to myself, “Yeah, OK, I love God. He satisfies me. I don’t need anything else.” BAM let’s do this! Then reality hits and reading these words doesn’t really tell me HOW to lean on God to give me strength in times of plenty and in times of want………..

So, if I haven’t lost you yet, let’s go back and look at the entire book of Philippians (and as a typical Sam disclaimer I am not a preacher, nor did I go to Bible college so if this is incorrect I apologize)…..

Paul is addressing some grumblings between a few Christians. And this is some of the advice he gives:

  1. Thanksgiving and Prayer- Paul first thanks them and tells them what he prays about for them.
  2. Background- Paul then acknowledges the situation.
  3. Keep on living a life worthy of the gospel- He instructs them that no matter what, you should keep doing the right thing.
  4. Act like Jesus- Paul then encourages them to approach the situation with Love.
  5. Don’t grumble- because obviously. No really, Paul describes this as a gift. If you don’t grumble you will be blameless and pure. Sign me up for that!
  6. Count on others- Paul then tells them he will send a friend to help encourage them.
  7. But not all others- He warns them to be weary of the evildoers.
  8. Keep your eyes on the prize- eternal life, not things of this world.

Then we get to Chapter 4 “The Closing Appeal” and the verse I shared above about being content no matter what.

I like this list. Paul is my man when it comes to lists! I’m not saying this is an easy list to keep in mind whenever I am feeling like I need to move on to the next big thing, or when I am going through a tough time with something……… but I do think that Paul’s letter to Phillipi can be used for us today.

  1. The first thing you should do is be thankful for “insert something here” and then go to God in prayer. First things first- give it to God.
  2. Acknowledge the thing you want or the tough circumstance you are in. It is healthy and right to admit those things. You just can’t stay there.
  3. Keep on keeping on. My friends and I try to make light of this step and say “Fake it til’ you make it”. But really this is survival 101. Keep praying, reading your Bible, going to Church, and doing what is right. Even if you feel distant from God, you feel your prayers are going unanswered, or you really don’t feel like being the better person……. you should still do it. Other’s are watching to see how you handle this situation- what a testimony to God to keep glorifying Him through your work!
  4. Be humble and approach the whole thing with love. That’s what Jesus would do.
  5. Try and not complain about the situation. Again, you will be rewarded for this!
  6. Know who your friends are and lean on them. Not just any friends, but the ones who are going to keep encouraging you and pointing you back to God.
  7. And finally, remember that every heartache we are going through is something that is breaking God’s heart too. Every desire we have here on Earth is nothing compared to the prize that awaits us in Heaven.

Friends, I can tell you with my whole heart that not having a girl breaks me sometimes. I know….. it is a dumb thing to get upset over, but it is something I desire from time to time. And when those feelings of longing come on, I go back over these steps and remind myself that God can fill that longing in my heart. He can satisfy me when I have plenty… or when I am in need.

Family, Farmhouse

Marriage Proofing Your House.

Sam

Has anyone told you that building a house is tough? Or that it really tests a marriage?

If you haven’t heard this before let me be the first to mention it to you. And if you have heard it let me serve as confirmation of this information. Building a house will be tough on your relationship. 

In fact, want to know what I am doing right now? I am holed up in my room, listening to a marriage sermon that my friend sent me, and I am sulking. Kyle and I had a big fight last night. Like one that ended in me driving around for 3 hours with a stop at Walmart at 1 am with my PJ’s on. I am super dramatic like that.

Want to know what the fight was about? Our house. I am frustrated and upset that we are 6 months into our build and we still do not have our septic in and we’ve been on a waiting list to get it in for almost a year.

Actually, I am just frustrated (period).

The thing is, when building a house it gets frustrating a lot. You’ll get frustrated that it is taking too long, something comes in over budget, a subcontractor messed something up, you have to pre-plan out all these things and you are afraid you might forget something, or you have to make a choice on wood flooring and the choice you want doesn’t work out so you have to go with something else that you aren’t quite as satisfied with…….. and the list goes on and on.

I have only been married 10 years and I don’t think I am qualified to offer any marriage advice. 1) because when we fight I do things like go to Walmart at 1 am because I am throwing a hissy fit and 2) Kyle and I haven’t really been faced with any big complications in our time of being married. But if it is OK with you I’d like to walk you through a few things that might help you if/or when you might build a house. And mostly because I need a list to refer back when these “house” fights happen again…… because they will.

  • Reach out to the one or two friends who value marriage and relationships. You know who they are. Bonus points if they too have built a house together or even tried to plan a simple home improvement project. They are the ones who won’t ever say a negative thing about your spouse even when you are saying ALL the negative things. They are the friends who listen, pray for you, and then send you sermons to listen to. They aren’t judging you and saying “what a terrible marriage you have or you should be more like my perfect marriage”. No, these friends are telling you that you are just frustrated and offering to go to McDonalds at 10 pm once the kids are asleep just so you can throw a pity party over a McFlurry.

 

  • You have to look at your spouse through the lens of LOVE. There are gonna be some tough times. I can’t tell you what those tough times are. For me it is because I want it to stop raining so we can put a septic tank in. Yours might be because your husband can’t tell that there is an OBVIOUS off color piece of flooring in the middle of your living room….. wait no that’s me too. You need to remember some basic facts: your spouse is not error free, they need as much grace as you do, and when you stop looking at them as a child of God and instead as someone whose letting you down- you will fail. Your marriage will fail. Your family will fail. (Note to future self: listen to this sermon when this happens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QSJSjNQM68)

 

  • Separate the truth from lies. During this current fight; I am not mad at Kyle, I am mad because our septic is not in and I am still living with my dad in a house that isn’t mine. I am frustrated at our circumstances right now. The truth is that Kyle feels the same way I do but expresses it differently. The lie is that I sometimes get so worked up that I think Kyle can control things that are really out of his control: like the weather. I know it sounds dumb, but honestly during this build I had to remind myself a lot that we were at the mercy of different contractors and the weather… both things that we can’t control. And the biggest truth I had to remember is that we still have the same goal in the end.

 

  • Marriage differences are tough. That might be the most underrated sentence I have ever spoke. Kyle and I are different on so many levels. He’s focused on the structure of our house like the electric and wouldn’t help on selecting what color we should paint the walls. He likes the hot hot summer and I look better in layers in the winter. He is so laid back that at times it comes across like he doesn’t care and I am such a hot head that I jump to conclusions. It’s not easy being so vastly different. Sometimes we can’t see where the other one is coming from and it leads to frustration. It’s during these times that I just have to embrace our differences and be thankful. I have to look at them as an opportunity to grow and widen my view. I have to embrace that differences mean that we are being thorough and that it brings diversity to our relationship. I cannot let the differences divide us. Because again when that happens things in our relationship start to fail, like communication.

 

  • You are not justified. This is really important. When I am mad at Kyle or hurt by really anyone who I have a close relationship with I can really easily fall into a hole where I feel wronged. But we are called to stay humble. And we need to get humble fast. I can perfectly recall a lot of the things that I have gotten mad about over the past 10 years with Kyle. He can’t. It isn’t because I haven’t made my fair share of mistakes- probably even worse than his ever were. It is because he has a terrible memory. But jokes aside you will need grace at one point in time in your relationship. Extend the type of grace that you hope to get when you mess up.

 

This isn’t my way of saying I have this marriage thing figured out or that I resolve conflict really well. I am so far from that. I just want you to know that building a house is not for the faint of heart and it will be tough- even for those of you who have a pretty strong relationship. I also want to tell you that the house you are building is not worth a broken relationship. And in case you need to be reminded……….. your spouse cannot control the weather so that it stops raining so you can put in a stupid septic tank.

Family

Useful Parenting Tips.

Sam

Ha! I have zero tips on how to “mom”. Every time I think I might be able to give some useful advice one of my kids (won’t name any names, but it’s always the middle one) gets stuck between the slide and the outside barrier at Chick-Fil-A and despite all my might I cannot remove him and people start to panic and ask if we should call 911. True story.

There are days that I really connect with my kids and I think I have this parenting gig down. I don’t yell or get frustrated easily. I am able to talk them through something and avoid a full blown out tantrum. I cook dinner that doesn’t make them gag. I am able to sort-wash-dry-AND put away the laundry. And when I go to tuck them in at night I read them a bedtime story and pray over them. It’s a sweet, easy going, good day.

Then the next day comes and I send the kids to school only to realize, once already at work, that I forgot to send their winter coats…. which just so happen to be in the back of my car. I also choose that day try a new Pinterest recipe that is gross so an hour later they are begging for a granola bar. Then during bath time my youngest, who refuses to potty train, poops in the bathtub and I lose my cool and force everyone to go to bed at 6 pm just so nothing else can go wrong.

OR maybe you aren’t a mom but you can relate because there are days that you are killing it at your job, the house is super clean, you are able to stay connected with your friends, AND work out. And then there are days that the only thing you are killing it at is killing your house plants.

It’s a balance I guess.

Before I used to think balancing meant having it all. Working and/or volunteering hard at whatever you do- but not too much so that your family is still your #1 priority. Having a clean and organized house- because that helps control the chaos. Cooking meals for your family most nights, but also having fun pizza dinners. Visiting friends and having “me” time, plus going out on date nights once a month even after you’re married…….. you know like all the things people say to do to help make your life better. I thought that was the balance I should be trying to achieve.

Instead the balance I’ve found isn’t this careful juggling act like people say. It’s more like you’re a server and holding up multiple plates with responsibilities heaped on them and a few crash on the floor – but you’re a mom so they were just plastic plates anyway – so you pick them up, check to see if they need washed, and continue on. The balance I have in my life isn’t about how I can hold all the plates up at the same time like I used to think, it’s about knowing which ones you can let crash for a minute. (I think some business books use the juggling analogy and balls dropping- but honestly I can’t say the word balls without blushing. Seriously, I hope that Jesus comes back before I have to have the talk with my kids because I will probably die from blushing that day). Anyways……..

Some of the best advice I’ve ever been given was to know your priorities. As in plural. There are days that my husband gets my attention because maybe he’s struggling with something, then there are days I’m celebrating something my oldest did so the other two kids have to suck it up and tag along. There are weeks that are busy at work and so it takes top priority, and then there are a few minutes here and there that I get to focus on myself. And when I’m focusing on one particular area in my life, I can pretty much guarantee that there are other parts close to falling or already on the ground. I won’t keep them there- but for the time being they aren’t my focus. Each year I get older, I’m a little better at figuring out what my priorities are.

But here’s where I struggle. Although I am getting better about knowing what I can let slide for a minute- it doesn’t make it any easier to actually let it fall to the bottom of my priority list. I hate even thinking that there are times work is more of a priority than my kids. To me that seems like I am saying I value work more. Which couldn’t be further from the truth. I love my work, I really do. As a senior in college I choose to take a class in not-for-profit and governmental accounting because it was so fascinating to me. So the fact that I actually have a career in it is a dream come true. (Listen Linda- accounting can be a dream job, thank you very much). But the love I have for my job is nothing compared to the love I have for my kids.

What I really struggle with and need to get better at is giving myself grace for letting things fall. I’m not entirely sure how to do this, since like I said, this is where I struggle… but I think it lies somewhere in between knowing we have grace and giving it to others.

Just like the grace we don’t deserve that God has given us, there’s nothing we can really do to earn it. We just have to be thankful we have it and accept it. When I know that I’m letting something fall off my plate I think I just have to acknowledge that it isn’t ideal but there’s not much else I can do about it.

And just like the fact that since God has given us grace we are called to also extend that gift to others. I need to let others know that they have grace when they are figuring out their priorities. When someone doesn’t put a top priority on something I think they should have, even if it causes me more work, I think I need to trust that they know their priorities better than I do. I think when we give this type of grace we become a little more aware of the fact we have the same grace.

I’m not sure if you need to know this or not, or if you already knew this, but you are not going to be able to do it all, and do it all well. I hope when those days come that you remember that you are allowed, and encouraged to give yourself grace. And if you see me at Chick-Fil-A trying to get a kid unstuck can you let me know I have grace too?

 

Faith

God is greater than Santa.

Sam

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

You didn’t read that wrong. God is greater than Santa. Although, I also believe he is much greater than Satan too, my kids don’t know much about Satan yet. They do know about Santa in all his red suit glory though. He’s the man who brings them tangible gifts on Christmas morning. He comes down a chimney, he has reindeer, he likes cookies and milk, you know…. Santa. So when my 6 year old and 4 year old declared God was greater than Santa I felt like mom of the year. No, mom of the decade. I could just quit parenting right then because my kids got it. They were able to rationalize that without God there would be no Santa. To you this may not be a big deal but to them it was. They have physically received something from Santa before. They’ve seen the cookies gone on Christmas morning and they’ve even sat on Santa’s lap. However, God is someone they know about, and although I feel His presence and see Him all around, I can’t be sure that my kids fully grasp that. In fact the conversation pretty much took a sharp u-turn after their amazing declaration because the middle child started asking me if God could juggle. So maybe don’t engrave the “mom of the decade” trophy with my name just yet.

My kids do have a tendency to point out my flaws though. You see I am equally parts “God is the most powerful” and then turning around questioning if God can “juggle” or if he can be trusted to protect my kids at school, if I can trust Him with my finances, or questioning Him why bad things happen to good people.

I told you already I had major control issues, but let me introduce you to my other wonderful flaw: I don’t know God enough to know how powerful He is.

Every time I turn around I am limiting God. I view Him through a human lens. For example for me it is sometimes tough to love someone, not judge them but hold them accountable, and stand firm in my beliefs so that I don’t seem lukewarm (Revelations 3:16). So usually I just pick one of those things to concentrate on. It’s too complicated to be ALL the things God asks me to be, so I usually just concentrate on one area and make sure I am being all in all a good person. One of the problems with this mentality is that it means I sometimes forget that God can be all those things. Because I can’t do it I ridiculously assume God can’t do it.

Not only is this probably highly offensive to God but I know this isn’t what God wants. He’s tired of me compartmentalizing Him. He’s probably rolled His eyes at me 100 times saying “Sam are we seriously having this conversation again?”. He’s led me more times than I can count to the perfect verse to calm my soul. He’s taken care of things I didn’t even know I needed taken care of. He’s loved me, nudged me when I’m not being who He created me to be, and He’s had the most consistent character of anyone I’ve ever known. He’s all the things at once, and He’s not just like that with me but with everyone. Yikes. I can barely keep up with 1 husband and 3 kids let alone everyone.

The positive thing is that He’s constantly giving me chances to see how great He is. When tough issues arise that I honestly don’t know which side I’m on, He gently reminds me that I can ask for wisdom. He knows I am not going to understand it all. He knows I will fall short. Oh and He knows I am never going to totally get it. But He wants me to get it.

He wants me to understand Him a little more every day. He knows if I get to know His character more then:

1) I will love Him more- because how couldn’t you? When I discover new things my kids can do it literally makes my heart so full and happy. I love them more day after day. The same is true for God, the more you know Him the more you love Him.

2) If I know what His character is I would know how He would respond. Which would make my life a lot easier.

So how do I get to know Him better? It’s kind of sad to me that I keep forgetting that there is an actual manual for life. I can’t tell you how many times when my kids were babies I would complain to my mom that there was no book that told you how to do it exactly. She’d always laugh and tell me it is because she has yet to see a book about babies written by the expert themselves: the baby. That’s not the case with God. He’s given us a book written by the expert. He’s laid out every single scenario possible and told us what would make our life easier. And because He knew we’d question it, He sent down His son to say “yes, actually it is possible. Maybe not for you but through me it is”.

I can’t promise to always remember what God is capable of. What I can promise myself, and what I would love to encourage you to do also, is to try to know Him a little more each day. Maybe tomorrow we might remember that God is greater than Santa and He can juggle too.

Family

The snake catcher.

Sam

I hate snakes. Like seriously– snakes are terrible. They are cold blooded, which I always associate with being a killer. They climb trees, but they have 0 arms or legs. And how the heck do they swim on top of the water??? Unnatural. They creep along and are mostly camouflaged so you never know when you will be attacked by one. I’ve actually never been attacked by one, but I did have one CRAWL over my bare foot when I was walking in my back yard once- so pretty much the same thing. I like it when people tell me “they are more afraid of you than you are of them”. I disagree. If that snake was afraid of me it wouldn’t have had the nerve to invade my personal space like it did.

I think this stems back to my childhood when my older brother would catch baby snakes and throw them at me. The fear escalated when I would go over to my aunt’s house and her two boys, my cousins, would randomly catch snakes and bring them in her house.

So when God blessed me with not 1 but 3 little boys I had serious post-traumatic flash backs to how the boys in my family couldn’t get enough of the evil creatures.

This  real ugly fear of snakes was something I was determined to not pass down to my boys. At the zoo I finally acknowledged there was a reptile house and even ventured in there from time to time. When a picture of a snake came up in a book we were reading or Wild Kratts showed how Python mothers lay all these eggs and then like the terrible creatures they are abandon them, I hid my gags. My kids quickly caught on though that their mom wasn’t a huge fan of snakes.

Unfortunately, instead of me passing down this particular fear to them, I instead passed down my humor. Because now it was a game. One time the oldest was walking through the zoo and they had a snake you could pet. He slyly looked at me and said “Mom, I want to pet it.” so instead of panic I started grabbing the hand-sanitizer so that I could wash his hands of that filth as soon as he touched it. Then the little snake (the kid, not the actual snake) said “but it’s big. Can you touch it first?” Blah. So like the good mother I pretend to be on Facebook I touched it. Then my own flesh and blood started to walk away. My eyes got so big and I am sure CPS was about to be called when he turned around and said “I changed my mind I don’t want to touch it.” Still to this day he’s not in the will because of this little trick.

Ah, it gets better though. From time to time my middle child will be hiking, playing in a creek, or just having fun outside. Then all of a sudden he’ll make a bee-line for something. 9 out of 10 times he pops up with a little snake in his hands. Yes, I have a snake catcher living in my house.

Isn’t that how life is though? We have a plan, it includes avoiding anything that could cause us to stumble and also takes a hard turn when we encounter something we fear.

Fear is a big motivator for me. At one point in my life I was so fearful of becoming a mom that I told Kyle I didn’t want kids. I felt I wouldn’t be a very good mom (still debatable) and I wasn’t a natural at it like other people I’ve seen. Once I had kids, I became fearful of this world in a way that is hard to explain. I gave up watching the news because of how sad it was, I wouldn’t let my kids go with anyone but a few trusted people and once that even included my own dad because I thought he might get into a car wreck. Because, you know, I’m immune to getting into car accidents.

It also manifested in an ugly way of being over critical of my kids. I’m not joking when I say that I am not a natural mother. From the time I was pregnant to now I am constantly researching all things motherhood, asking people how to parent, and in general just winging it. I’d take lists to my OB of questions I had. But they actually weren’t questions, they were fears. Did I weigh too much to have a healthy pregnancy? I had low iron- so how will that effect the baby? Should I start a gestational diabetic eating plan at 10 weeks- because I might have it? Can you tell if I’ll need a c-section? What can I do now to ensure that I’ll be able to breastfeed?

When I had my son it didn’t get better. Was he making eye contact appropriately? Did he have enough muscle mass? Is he eating enough? Is he hitting milestones like he should? My sister was an early childhood intervention specialist- so you better believe I made her do evaluations on my kid. I was constantly reading to him, making him play developmentally appropriate games, and in all honesty trying to condition him into the perfect child. I think all moms go through this a little bit but I think I might have been taking it to an extreme.

You know why I didn’t want my fear of snakes to pass down to my kids? Because I didn’t want to limit them. I didn’t want a fear of snakes to keep them from enjoying swimming in a pond (which I still will not do to this day). I didn’t want them to not want to go on a hike because they might see a snake. I didn’t want them to miss out on something enjoyable because of fear. It was so easy to identify my fear of snakes. It was harder to realize I had a deep fear of being a mom, or a fear of screwing up my kids. I was turning something amazing like motherhood into something not as enjoyable because of my constant fears of if I was doing it right. The hardest part? I realized I might be pushing those fears on my kids. I was making them anxious. The oldest started biting his nails and you could tell he felt a pressure to behave a certain way. It was my worst fear- I screwed up my kid.

It didn’t happen right away but little by little I gave my fear up. I tried to consciously not let fear dictate my life. How? Well for me, I did it by calling out the fear and prayerfully giving it to God. I also let my kids see me pray about it and talk about it. I wanted them to know that even though I was nervous about something it wasn’t going to stop me from going about my day.

Maybe you too have fear that keeps you from enjoying things like you should. Maybe you’re at the step where you need to identify what that fear might be. What trait do you not want to pass down to your kids? Is it your fear of snakes? Or something more?

little boy with snake
My little snake catcher.

 

Family

How to say sorry.

Sam

I love to apologize. I remember getting a letter when I was a kid from a really dear friend of mine that said “I wish you’d stop saying sorry so much”. My first gut reaction was to apologize. I so badly wanted to go up to her and ask her if she was still my friend even though I was annoying.

Sometimes I use the word “sorry” to replace “excuse me”. Like when my kid gets up to use the bathroom during a play and we are in the middle of the row I like to say “Oh, I’m so sorry, can we get past you?”. Sometimes I say sorry in a sarcastic type of way like “I’m so sorry you can’t be bothered to answer my call Kyle- who else could possibly be more important than your WIFE!”. Most of the time though I really am sorry and I like to tell people how sorry I am.

There is probably a lot of insecurity issues and childhood traumas that have led me to being an overly apologetic human being. But of all things I am not sorry about, it is being sorry all the time.

Have any of you experienced a time where someone did something offensive to you and they say the dreaded sentence “well, I’m sorry you took it that way”? Another personal favorite of mine is “I’m sorry but x,y,z happened” aka it’s not my fault.

When I hear things like this it makes me feel as a society that we have become so adverse to showing any signs of weakness or being honest in our failures that we forget there is usually another actual person on the other side that has worth. That is a mouth full of a sentence so let me break it down. When you apologize it is for the benefit of the other person. It is not to show your weakness. If you are saying sorry right, it has nothing to do with your weakness or with your failures and everything to do with making sure the person you are apologizing to still knows they are important, or worthy.

I actually had an example of this that played out today and sorry (lol) that I am being vague but there are people I want to protect. Anyways, I was telling someone that I didn’t receive some information that I should have. I handled it the right way and let the person who didn’t give me the information know they really needed to make sure they let me know in the future and let it go. Within the next hour I had been forwarded an email where in fact they did send me the information. I immediately apologized that I had missed it, and I also went out of my way to let the person I told originally know I actually did receive it. 

Simple right? I wanted to make sure my friend knew I recognized my mistake so that next time it wouldn’t happen. I wanted them to know that I knew they did what they were supposed to and they were worthy. I also didn’t want the other person to think poorly about the friend. Did it make it look like I missed the information the first time and was irresponsible? Probably. Do I think anyone gave it that much thought afterwards? Probably not.

Could you imagine if I didn’t apologize? If that friend continued to think that the other friend didn’t do what I needed, or if the one friend thought I thought they were irresponsible? It would make for some complex relationships.

You see when you say sorry for a simple error it stays like that….. a simple error.

Instead, what I see all the time is when the simple mistakes aren’t dealt with they stop being simple and start to become complex. It starts to become something that festers and gets bigger and bigger and bigger. In our marriages I see it all the time. We let something as simple as not taking out the trash stop being something as simple as just taking out the trash and instead it becomes “you never listen to me” or “you think x,y,z are more important than me”.

With our kids; when they ask us to do something like play a game of UNO and we tell them “after dinner” and then forget, it is simple to say “I’m sorry I forgot, we don’t have time for UNO now but I’ll read you a book”. It is more complex to deal with a child who becomes accustomed to someone always letting them down than to just say sorry and try to do better next time.

Not repeating your mistakes or trying to do better is just as important as saying the actual words “I’m sorry”. We as a society need to do better about linking actions to words. When a child becomes an adult and hasn’t seen their parents actually apologize, something as simple as just saying sorry becomes a more complex issue of a future adult who doesn’t know how to take responsibility for their actions.

Saying sorry also forces you to become vulnerable. I think the world teaches us that being vulnerable equals weakness. Now I’m a Bible believer so I know that our weakness is where God shows up. You might not think that so let me take another approach to this; Vulnerability shows someone that you can be honest and trusted. How much better would this world be if we had more honest and trustworthy people in it? A lot.

Now saying sorry for a simple error vs. saying sorry for something you can’t take back or where you can’t try to better next time because there is no next time, is not called “being sorry”. That’s called asking for grace. That is really different…….. and sorry to say………. a whole other post.

Faith

An open letter to the mom who skips church.

Sam
Photo Credit: Jenn Shreve Photography

 

Hi friend,

I’ve invited you to small group for a while now. You sometimes ignore my text or call, sometimes you answer me and say maybe, and sometimes you say yes- but we both know you aren’t coming.

You see, I know you have a sweet baby at home. One that is still nursing. One that still needs you and only you to tuck them in. One that you haven’t seen all day because you are at work and miss your baby so much that as soon as you get home you can’t possibly think about leaving them again.

I see how hard you work to give your baby just the right amount of kisses and cuddles. You make sure you’ve read to them each night. You know you only have a small window that they are little and you need to soak up as much time with them as possible.

I know this season of life is tough. I know you are juggling hungry babies, moody toddlers, and independent-think-they-don’t-need-you-anymore little kids. So I know you skip church more than you’d like. You don’t want to impose your child’s tantrums on the nursery volunteer and most Sundays the kids distract you too much to actually get anything out of a sermon.

I was you, I am you.

Oh, how I know how hard it is to get the kids out of the house on time. Some days I swear it is my boys sole objective to see how many times I can tell them to get dressed. Surely they are keeping a tally of the times I yell and they are just trying to see if they can beat their all time record.

I also know time slips by way too fast. I still can’t believe that my oldest is in school. I miss him. I mean I miss him being a baby- reflux and all. I miss his tantrums, although he still has them from time to time, they aren’t quite as sweet as his pouting wails because I broke his granola bar in two.

I understand why you don’t come to small group and I feel you on a gut level of why you avoid church. I know you’ll come when life isn’t so hectic. Or when your baby doesn’t need you as much.

But what I need to tell you is that your baby needs you to go to small group. Those babies need to scream at those nursery volunteers. Ok, maybe that is a stretch but hear me out.

There is going to come a time where you need to know your identity is not defined by your kids. This might manifest because one of your kids does something terrible and you need to know that your kids make their own choices (good and bad) and it does not matter how amazing their upbringing was. They aren’t perfect and mistakes will be made. You need to know that your kids mistakes aren’t all your fault.

There will come a time where you find yourself with more free time than you had before. Maybe it is while sitting at a t-ball practice, but I promise you, you will not always be nursing or rocking a baby to sleep. It is during these times a small whisper will say “now what?”.

You need a tribe of friends to help you navigate these things. They will calm your soul and say sweet things like “I know”. They won’t try to fix you, they’ll just cry with you. Your pain will be their pain, you will share joy and laughter like you’ve never experienced. You’ll learn together how to get through the struggles of life by relying on the truths God laid out for you to follow.

Your kids need to see this. There will be a day when they aren’t guided 100% by you. They’ll be influenced by their friends. They need to know how to pick good friends. They need to see what that looks like. That it isn’t a one sided relationship, that a real friend is your cheerleader and a real friend truly cares about your happiness. They are a friend who holds you accountable– and sometimes that means telling you “that’s not how you’re supposed to act”.

Though church might be hard right now, you need to try. As a mom I know you know this but they aren’t going to stay this little forever. This season of tantrums when you drop them off will slowly fade, they won’t always scream “let me down” while their baby brother is being dedicated in front of the church, and they won’t always make a bee line for the drums on stage. The church needs to see them in all their glory. Sometimes I think it’s because God needs a chuckle that day. But I know it’s also because when you see a child grow up before your eyes, you are more invested in that child. Your child needs people who are looking out for them against this world.

Also, sweet momma, sometimes God repays you for your faithfulness and provides you amazing moments. Moments so tender you think you can’t possibly love any deeper. Moments where your six year old and four year old have discussions in the car about how strong God is and declare loudly that God is better than Santa because without God there would be no Santa. You need those moments.

But I understand why you’re just not quite ready yet. I know you, when God nudges you, you’ll follow. Until then please know I wished you’d join me at church- mostly because I’m tired of it always being my kids who try to blow out the advent candles but also because your kids need you to be there.

Faith, Family, Farmhouse

First things first.

Sam

So you’ve decided to check out just another farmhouse blog? I know you. You are either a family member (hi mom!) or friend who’ve I shamelessly begged to follow me, or like me obsessed with all things farmhouse. You’ve checked out the other 503+ blogs out there about how to build your dream farmhouse and now you’ve stumbled on mine- which to be honest probably isn’t too different than all the others. So why should you keep checking in here? I mean what is different? I’m going to be real. I am not a professional Christian, wife, mother, crafter, photographer, construction guru, or interior designer.

Needless to say my photo editing skills include begging one of my best friends to take pictures for me, or using Instagram filters. So if you want beautiful farmhouse photos this is not the place for that. I think my pictures are OK and they are real– like I might forget to move a highchair out of the way of a photo I post. My decorating skills are on par with my budget- basically really sound in a structural type of way but not excessive.

My abilities as a mom, or crafter, or chef are limited. I work really, really, really hard to keep my kids alive, dressed (which is harder than you think- or maybe you too have toddlers who love to be naked), fed, semi-clean, and well-rounded. But I pretty much fail daily on this. Except the keeping the kids alive. I do that, but barely. So if you are here to learn how to cook from scratch, raise perfect kids who go to Church and don’t try to light it on fire, or sew homemade costumes- well let me introduce you to other blogs for that or my personal favorite amazon.com.

As far as a wife goes….. Kyle (my husband) hasn’t complained. Well, let me rephrase he hasn’t complained to me. Honestly though, in Kyle’s words “we get along so well because I am easy going”. He’s the calm to my storm, the practical to my wild, and all in all really is easy going. I try. I really do. Like in all areas of my life sometimes I’m a really amazing supportive wife and other times I’m just a supportive wife- and then when times get a little overwhelming I’m just a wife.

So what can I promise you here? Well, I think I can promise you some honesty and some realistic budgets for building your dream house. I feel like sometimes what is lacking on sites is the authentic budgets. Like I see the ones that are 4,000 square feet and a million dollars to build or ones where you build it yourself and spend $50K on a $500K house. This place will be as middle of the road as possible. AND because it is my place to post- I will also share a few things on faith and family– because honestly the farmhouse part doesn’t do much for me without the other two.

Thanks for stopping in and I hope you enjoy!

– Sam

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