I'm still enjoying my babymoon and trying to get back in the swing of daily life with a graduating senior, a kindergartner, a preschooler, and a newborn who are all with me all of the time :)
I wouldn't have it any other way.
But while I'm gradually working my way back into to "bloggityville", I thought I'd post something worth reading/watching.
And yes...you read it right. I had my baby at home...on purpose :)
Check out the SLIDESHOW and the BIRTH STORY!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Baby Boy Has Arrived!
We don't have a name yet but....we do know his name will start with a "J"
Baby Boy was born at 3:59 pm, Monday (yesterday) afternoon.
He weighed in at 7 lbs 15 1/2 oz (our smallest baby so far) and is 19 1/2 inches long.
We are all doing fine and resting well at home.
Baby Boy was born at 3:59 pm, Monday (yesterday) afternoon.
He weighed in at 7 lbs 15 1/2 oz (our smallest baby so far) and is 19 1/2 inches long.
We are all doing fine and resting well at home.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Yes...I'm STILL Pregnant
I have done such a poor job of keeping up with my blog during this pregnancy. There has been a lot to share but I simply haven't done it.
Since I'm virtually at the end, I figured I give a quick update and then announce the birth of baby #5 when he or she arrives.
So, I am officially overdue...once again. I have never had a baby to arrive on or before his or her due date. I thought that with the more babies a woman has, the earlier they come. I had first settled on 11-11-08 as a date that had a nice ring. That may sound silly, but with my first child, I was due on October 25th and prayed and asked the Lord for November 1st baby. I wanted the little one to come on a Friday so that I could rest over the weekend and go back to class ( I was in college ) on Monday. The Lord heard my prayer and my oldest baby girl entered the world on the date I preferred.
No such luck this time. I did pray and request 11/11 but it's now 11/22 and I'm still "heavy with child".
Since Sunday's is my day to look my best, if I'm still pregnant tomorrow, I'll take a shot and post it then. In the meantime, here are a few photos of me pregnant in the recent past.
Oh...and I haven't been pregnant by myself either...
for a hot split second, me, my sister, 'Silla, and sister-in-love, Kanika, were all preggers...
Then 'Silla had to go and unload her precious bundle...
So now, it's just me and 'Nika left...
That is ... until we found out that my cousin 'Wynt is pregnant with TWINS...
Can you say FIVE BABIES in NINE MONTHS...
It's gonna be a circus around here :)
Here I am with my once again skinny, uninhabited sister. I'll be like her sooner than later. I just keep telling myself that this baby will eventually come out.
Since I'm virtually at the end, I figured I give a quick update and then announce the birth of baby #5 when he or she arrives.
So, I am officially overdue...once again. I have never had a baby to arrive on or before his or her due date. I thought that with the more babies a woman has, the earlier they come. I had first settled on 11-11-08 as a date that had a nice ring. That may sound silly, but with my first child, I was due on October 25th and prayed and asked the Lord for November 1st baby. I wanted the little one to come on a Friday so that I could rest over the weekend and go back to class ( I was in college ) on Monday. The Lord heard my prayer and my oldest baby girl entered the world on the date I preferred.
No such luck this time. I did pray and request 11/11 but it's now 11/22 and I'm still "heavy with child".
Since Sunday's is my day to look my best, if I'm still pregnant tomorrow, I'll take a shot and post it then. In the meantime, here are a few photos of me pregnant in the recent past.
Here I am at six months:
Oh...and I haven't been pregnant by myself either...
for a hot split second, me, my sister, 'Silla, and sister-in-love, Kanika, were all preggers...
Then 'Silla had to go and unload her precious bundle...
So now, it's just me and 'Nika left...
That is ... until we found out that my cousin 'Wynt is pregnant with TWINS...
Can you say FIVE BABIES in NINE MONTHS...
It's gonna be a circus around here :)
Here I am with my once again skinny, uninhabited sister. I'll be like her sooner than later. I just keep telling myself that this baby will eventually come out.
So, I'm on the verge of bringing another person into the world. Will the birthday be tomorrow? We'll see won't we? :)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Summer Fun - Part 2
Here's another post relevant for the summer daze.
A friend once told me that people who are naturally organized don't need charts and schedules and routines written down and posted all over the place, but that those who are naturally chaotic need things written down and planned in order to get anything done. This made sense to me.
People always think I'm organized because they see my with a planner, with a chore chart, and with a routine for my days with kiddos at home. SHHHHHH....don't tell anybody - I'm one of the most random and chaotic people you will ever meet. Here's how I keep things under control though - I plan. I plan myself silly. I have a plan for everything. I plan so much that I struggle to stop planning and get to doing.
Truth be told, I'm a perfectionist and perfectionist don't like to fail. If I stop planning and actually start doing, I open myself up to failing miserably. At least, if all I do is plan than I can succeed at just that...planning :)
Ok...enough self analysis. Here's what I do: I take my schedule from the school year and tweak it to allow for more T-I-M-E. Time for what you ask? Well, time to just be. One of the lost arts these days is knowing how to exist without something to do. It's a skill to be still and master the art of quietness. Plus....boredom is the mother of invention. Kids have wonderful imaginations. They just sometimes don't know it until they are bored :)
The other thing I make sure to allow is plenty of time for taking care of our home. Summer is where I do the bulk of my training because life is slower and I can take all the time I want to make sure that the clothes are folded the right way or that the bathroom clean is done as expected. I try my best not to be "Mommy-dearest" but I do have high standards. I can't help it. I'm a perfectionist. I figure my kids will have something about me to discuss in counseling anyway.
I also put up a summer calender to take care of the "big stuff" - you know - the stuff that the kids really look forward to like family vacation, swimming lessons, summer outings, etc.
I also use the calendar to purposefully plan to do some of the things from our list of Summer Activities. OK...back to the point of this post...our daily summer routine....
AGGGGGGHHHHH... I just got a pop-up message telling me that I'm about to run out of batteries. I'm sitting at Barnes & Noble, getting a little R&R (can you say BY MYSELF) and I can't seem to find an outlet.
So....I will add the daily routine in a subsequent post so that I can at least have a post for today! More to come later...
Friday, July 06, 2007
Summer Days At A Glance
Summers are always difficult for me because I'm a routine gal. As much as I want to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-person...I'm just not.A friend once told me that people who are naturally organized don't need charts and schedules and routines written down and posted all over the place, but that those who are naturally chaotic need things written down and planned in order to get anything done. This made sense to me.
People always think I'm organized because they see my with a planner, with a chore chart, and with a routine for my days with kiddos at home. SHHHHHH....don't tell anybody - I'm one of the most random and chaotic people you will ever meet. Here's how I keep things under control though - I plan. I plan myself silly. I have a plan for everything. I plan so much that I struggle to stop planning and get to doing.
Truth be told, I'm a perfectionist and perfectionist don't like to fail. If I stop planning and actually start doing, I open myself up to failing miserably. At least, if all I do is plan than I can succeed at just that...planning :)
Ok...enough self analysis. Here's what I do: I take my schedule from the school year and tweak it to allow for more T-I-M-E. Time for what you ask? Well, time to just be. One of the lost arts these days is knowing how to exist without something to do. It's a skill to be still and master the art of quietness. Plus....boredom is the mother of invention. Kids have wonderful imaginations. They just sometimes don't know it until they are bored :)
The other thing I make sure to allow is plenty of time for taking care of our home. Summer is where I do the bulk of my training because life is slower and I can take all the time I want to make sure that the clothes are folded the right way or that the bathroom clean is done as expected. I try my best not to be "Mommy-dearest" but I do have high standards. I can't help it. I'm a perfectionist. I figure my kids will have something about me to discuss in counseling anyway.
I also put up a summer calender to take care of the "big stuff" - you know - the stuff that the kids really look forward to like family vacation, swimming lessons, summer outings, etc.
I also use the calendar to purposefully plan to do some of the things from our list of Summer Activities. OK...back to the point of this post...our daily summer routine....
AGGGGGGHHHHH... I just got a pop-up message telling me that I'm about to run out of batteries. I'm sitting at Barnes & Noble, getting a little R&R (can you say BY MYSELF) and I can't seem to find an outlet.
So....I will add the daily routine in a subsequent post so that I can at least have a post for today! More to come later...
Summer Fun
Since I have yet to post this week and I don't want to fall back in my rut of not posting. I figured I would do just fine do a repost from last summer where I shared how we keep up with things to do during the summer with the kids.
The price of gas in 2008 has kept us closer to home than last year but I still pull out my handy list of activities (link below) to keep me up on things to do so I have ideas in my back pocket when I need them.
Although I will do "school" for my littles (they don't know about any difference between the summer and the traditional school year) it will be very relaxed. I like to get out of the house and take advantage of all the fun things going on in the city.
This week is Vacation Bible School at our church which means late nights and letting the kiddos sleep in. The next couple of days we'll be enrolling in the library's summer reading program and spending quality time in the backyard. The kiddos will play while I pull more weeds and finish the beds for my tomato plants (yes...I'm trying my hand at gardening).
Anyhow, every year I add things to my Summer List of Activities and save it so I won't have to start from scratch the next year. Thought I'd share the list with you guys today!
The price of gas in 2008 has kept us closer to home than last year but I still pull out my handy list of activities (link below) to keep me up on things to do so I have ideas in my back pocket when I need them.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Things to Do This Summer
Well this is our last official week of school. Normally we school year round but my oldest daughter is coming into her own and she has a SCHEDULE to keep. I've learned from summer's gone by that trying to fit school in between camp or family vacation or the mission trip...just isn't smart.Although I will do "school" for my littles (they don't know about any difference between the summer and the traditional school year) it will be very relaxed. I like to get out of the house and take advantage of all the fun things going on in the city.
This week is Vacation Bible School at our church which means late nights and letting the kiddos sleep in. The next couple of days we'll be enrolling in the library's summer reading program and spending quality time in the backyard. The kiddos will play while I pull more weeds and finish the beds for my tomato plants (yes...I'm trying my hand at gardening).
Anyhow, every year I add things to my Summer List of Activities and save it so I won't have to start from scratch the next year. Thought I'd share the list with you guys today!
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Maxi Pads And Milk
One of the best things about being pregnant is that you don't have to buy maxi pads for awhile.
Seriously.
It's one of the perks from the job of carrying another human being around in your own body for the better part of a year.
I recall towards the end of '07 that I needed some pads and made a trip to the store specifically to that end. I walked to the feminine products aisle, found my favorite brand and then proceeded to walk to the checkout.
It just didn't feel right to be strolling through Walmart with just a soft square bag of female diapers in my hand.
I made my way back to the feminine products aisle and put the pads back...
Yes...I put the pads back.
I waltzed back up to the front of the store, got a basket, and made my way to the back of the grocery store where the diary products are located. I picked up a gallon of milk.
I then criss-crossed the store diagonally and went back to the feminine products aisle that I had visited early, grabbed the bag of pads, threw it in the basket and proceeded to the checkout.
There's just something about going through Lane #11 with a bag of pads that screams...
Seriously.
It's one of the perks from the job of carrying another human being around in your own body for the better part of a year.
I recall towards the end of '07 that I needed some pads and made a trip to the store specifically to that end. I walked to the feminine products aisle, found my favorite brand and then proceeded to walk to the checkout.
It just didn't feel right to be strolling through Walmart with just a soft square bag of female diapers in my hand.
I made my way back to the feminine products aisle and put the pads back...
Yes...I put the pads back.
I waltzed back up to the front of the store, got a basket, and made my way to the back of the grocery store where the diary products are located. I picked up a gallon of milk.
I then criss-crossed the store diagonally and went back to the feminine products aisle that I had visited early, grabbed the bag of pads, threw it in the basket and proceeded to the checkout.
There's just something about going through Lane #11 with a bag of pads that screams...
I'M ON MY CYCLE AND I'M DESPERATE FOR MORE PADS NOW!
At least with the gallon of milk, it might have made it seem as if I was a little less desperate. Maybe I would have needed the pads in a couple of days and just decided to proactively pick them up as I took care of my REAL need of replenishing the milk for my children.
Yea...that's it. It's about my kids....
Somehow, adding the milk to the maxis made me feel a little bit less self-conscious.
SIGH~
I sure am glad that I don't have to worry about that for while. Truth be told I hope not to worry about that for a long while.
There are alternatives to the conventional maxi...but that is for another blog at another time....I don't have to worry about that for yet awhile longer and there is no reason to bare all in one post....
Yea...that's it. It's about my kids....
Somehow, adding the milk to the maxis made me feel a little bit less self-conscious.
SIGH~
I sure am glad that I don't have to worry about that for while. Truth be told I hope not to worry about that for a long while.
There are alternatives to the conventional maxi...but that is for another blog at another time....I don't have to worry about that for yet awhile longer and there is no reason to bare all in one post....
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
On The Second Half...
Psalm 90:10 (KJV)
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Assuming that I have the opportunity to live the 70 years mentioned in this verse, after turning 36 yesterday, I'm officially in the second half of my life.Sobering isn't it.
My grandmother will be 90 years old this year. She says regularly that she figures that it's about time for her to begin accepting the fact that she's getting old! Grandma has mentioned time and time again that her mind isn't old...only her body is aging.
I get this completely.
I feel smarter than I was at 25 but I feel like the same person. I don't know what I thought I'd feel like...but I'm not feeling it. But time doesn't lie. My age is an indicator that time marches on. Time waits for no one.
So...just like on most birthdays, I'm filled with wonder and deep thoughts at how I've spent my time on earth and thinking of what I should do with the days to come.
Time is so easy to waste. We know that we don't have an endless supply, but we use it as if it will never run out. I am at fault for leaving many things undone on my to do list that should get first priority - things that if I died tomorrow, would make me very unhappy to acknowledge I didn't make time for.
So I'm gonna tune my piano...YUP...that's the deep reality for today. Seven years ago, my husband got me a baby grand piano. He's in the music business and had access to a beautiful baby grand piano that he got for me and placed in my home. I took piano lessons from the age of five to fifteen years of age and then stopped. I said for years I wanted to get back to playing the piano. If for no other reason, I have songs that the Lord gives me yet I do nothing with the majority of the them. I want to sit at the piano, accept my lack of perfection and professionalism at the keys, and develop the words and melodies he whispers in my ear. I want to allow the harmonies of my heart to be a part of my time with Him, even if no one else ever hears a note - and I want to sing and play these songs in tune.
Silly huh? There are so many things on my list truth be told. There are serious things and fun things, urgent things and important things. My list will never end I'm afraid, but I can cross one things off tomorrow :) I'm calling the piano tuning man.
For the next 35 years, I want to use the voice God gave me and my existing knowledge of the black and white keys to make melodies in my heart and with my mouth to the Lord.
I want to live out loud.
If I stare back in time too long, I'll find things that I wish I would have done better or cringe that I did at all. After living half of my "Bible years", there are lots of "would-ofs", "could-ofs", or "should-ofs", but those years are spent. How I used the time is how I used it and I can't go back and change any of it. But I can take a step forward tomorrow.
Each day that I'm blessed with give me another day to take a step toward wherever it is that I sense the Lord wants me to go. You are blessed too. Will you take a step with me?
If you are so inclined, I'd love to whisper a prayer for you if you are taking a new step. Hit me back and let me know about your step.
One more thing...Someone commented on my blog and left me with a link to Angie's Blog and I found my way to her post, The Past and The Pitcher. This post will bless your socks off. Take a moment and read it when you have a chance....
Monday, July 07, 2008
Happy Birthday To Me!!!
I figured the start of a new year for me is as good a day as any to return to blogging!
I lot can happen when you take a half a year off from blogging with regularity :)
Check out the new ticker at the top of my blog page :)
We'll have FIVE in our clan come November!
I lot can happen when you take a half a year off from blogging with regularity :)
Check out the new ticker at the top of my blog page :)
We'll have FIVE in our clan come November!
I don't know yet if I'll strive for daily posts or simply posts when I feel like it but I definitely misss my blogging habit (addiction) and will try to indulge myself without neglecting the rest of my life :)
Hit me! Send me a comment to let me know you are still there!
Hit me! Send me a comment to let me know you are still there!
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
I'll Be Back...Soon
I've had a few emails asking where I am and why in the world am I not blogging.
Honestly, I don't know what happened. One day turned into two, two turned five, five turned into ten, and then ten turned in to the whole month of January. I'd been telling me that when February came I'd start fresh then but obviously that didn't happen.
Partially, I think that because of series of events I just got bottle necked with my real everyday life and blogging about my life didn't seem to be very exciting. Also, I haven't had the constant flow of pictures to share as my two year old accidentally pushed my digital camera into the sink at my mother's house over Christmas.
I've been overextended and I've just been cutting back in an effort to strive for more order. I'll probably blog about that later. I'm in the middle of learning a lesson (more like God is giving me a spanking) and I haven't really wanted to bare all while the sting is still fresh.
I will be back. I love writing and blogging about what I'm learning each day. I will be back because right now, this is my family journal album of what we do with our days. One of these days, I'll actually scrapbook them, but for now, at least I know what we did when and what I thought about it.
Just wanted to drop a line to say that I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I will be back...soon.
Honestly, I don't know what happened. One day turned into two, two turned five, five turned into ten, and then ten turned in to the whole month of January. I'd been telling me that when February came I'd start fresh then but obviously that didn't happen.
Partially, I think that because of series of events I just got bottle necked with my real everyday life and blogging about my life didn't seem to be very exciting. Also, I haven't had the constant flow of pictures to share as my two year old accidentally pushed my digital camera into the sink at my mother's house over Christmas.
I've been overextended and I've just been cutting back in an effort to strive for more order. I'll probably blog about that later. I'm in the middle of learning a lesson (more like God is giving me a spanking) and I haven't really wanted to bare all while the sting is still fresh.
I will be back. I love writing and blogging about what I'm learning each day. I will be back because right now, this is my family journal album of what we do with our days. One of these days, I'll actually scrapbook them, but for now, at least I know what we did when and what I thought about it.
Just wanted to drop a line to say that I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I will be back...soon.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
New Year's Thoughts: Seasonally Challenged Living
The ending of this holiday season is bittersweet for me this year. On the one hand, I'm glad to be gradually returning to normal life. On the other hand, this year, my Christmas and New Years caught me off guard. All of a sudden the holidays were upon me and before I knew it I was busy, doing what I don't really know, but so many things that I would have liked to do went undone. I have this whole holidays list thing where I keep adding things every year that I want to include in our family traditions. This year however, I just didn't have it in me. I kind of skimmed by doing the bare minimum. I went through the last two weeks of the year seasonally challenged.
I didn't make egg nog...
The outside lights never made it on to the bushes...
We didn't make salt dough ornaments...
We didn't have another family over to fellowship with for the holidays...
I didn't feel like cooking so there were not a constant smell of freshly baked goods coming from the kitchen...
We did go to look at Christmas lights but right when we got to the entrance, the neighborhood viewing time came to an end so we never made it to the really good displays...
We did make it to the special train exhibit but we were running late and Daddy didn't get to go in with us (he had to catch a flight)...
We never got around to celebrating Advent, reading our special book and counting down the days towards Christmas...
Not one time, did I read the Christmas story from the Bible to my kids (I'm a heathen, I know)
We did borrow books from the library. We borrowed five. I read from two of them - one time each...
Chaos slowly erupted as everyone slowly fell out of their routines, chores, and daily habits...
Christmas shopping did get done, albeit at the last minute, and the budget well...was there a budget?...
There were some girlfriends that always come over during the holidays to share Egg Nog Lattes with me. We never connected...
and the list goes on...
And now, here I am, on the other side of January 1 and in a new year - 2008.
What happened, where did the time go, how did I get caught so off guard?
I'll tell you what happened. Life's been happening. Between homeschooling, two kids in three different kinds of therapy, extra jobs for extra money, Bible study, keeping house, etc, etc....LIFE IS HAPPENING IN SURROUND SOUND.
No matter which way I turn, I'm bombarded with things to do, things to accomplish, things to finish.
And no, they are NEVER finished. Life keeps happening and keeps getting in the way of ability to fully prepare for and enjoy the current season.
Last year, I had grand aspirations of slowing down and that never happened. Why? Because I kept doing the next thing. And life just keeps happening. There is always one more thing to do. One more person to support. One more program to participate in. One more place that I could be. Life keeps coming.
Let me let you in on a little secret that I'm really learning and grabbing a hold of...
Life does stop or slow down...but I can. My desire to be still enough to hear the still small voice of God doesn't get fulfilled because I wish it be so. I am able to attain peace, simplicity, and stillness in my life because I make the choices that are required to achieve this state. My inability to fully engage in the current season has to do with the choices that I make to fit in the things that matter.
There are so many times where I've heard people say that they don't know where the years went, or that time passed way too quickly, or that they wish they wouldn't have been in so much of a hurry. This is the state of living where most of us reside. We are always running, just trying to make it to the next thing, or pass through the current landscape. We are just trying to make it and struggling to stay afloat. We are living, constantly challenged to fully engage in the current season of life.
I believe with all of my heart that it doesn't have to be this way. It is possible to smell the flowers and enjoy the journey. In my mid-thirties, I'm just now realizing how challenging that can be in the society in which we live. We are encouraged to rush, to go, and to do. We are not encouraged to be.
Just like Christmas and New Years came upon me suddenly and unexpectedly, Jesus worns us in the Bible of not being ready for his return.
My challenge over the next couple of weeks will be to figure out what exactly it is that I'm doing that gets in my way of having room in my life to watch for him and to do what matters. My challenge will be to make different choices and to stop doing some things out of habit and start doing other things on purpose.
My challenge will be to stop allowing the ebb and flow of life from determining the flow of my own life.
And it is a challenge. I am a self-confessed doer, an achiever, and a "check-off-my-list" kind of person. But this is my desire. I'm slowly waking up on the other side of Holiday Season '07 and coming to realize that it's over and I just made it by the skin of my teeth.
With all of my heart, I do not want to slowly wake up on the other side of Chrystal's Season on earth and realize that I just made it, challenged beyond repair by the demands of the world on my time. I want to overcome. I want to flourish. I want to be on top of the things that matter in my life - the things that matter to God for this one life he has given me to live. I want to make life-altering, life-giving, life-changing CHOICES. What are those choices? That's what I'll be praying about seriously for a few days in the immediate future.
Lord help me to learn the discipline of stillness, of looking, waiting, and watching for you. I don't want to miss where you are and what you are doing. I don't want to realize after you have moved that you were at work and I was too busy to notice. Help me know what choices to make to align myself with your purposes and plans.
I didn't make egg nog...
The outside lights never made it on to the bushes...
We didn't make salt dough ornaments...
We didn't have another family over to fellowship with for the holidays...
I didn't feel like cooking so there were not a constant smell of freshly baked goods coming from the kitchen...
We did go to look at Christmas lights but right when we got to the entrance, the neighborhood viewing time came to an end so we never made it to the really good displays...
We did make it to the special train exhibit but we were running late and Daddy didn't get to go in with us (he had to catch a flight)...
We never got around to celebrating Advent, reading our special book and counting down the days towards Christmas...
Not one time, did I read the Christmas story from the Bible to my kids (I'm a heathen, I know)
We did borrow books from the library. We borrowed five. I read from two of them - one time each...
Chaos slowly erupted as everyone slowly fell out of their routines, chores, and daily habits...
Christmas shopping did get done, albeit at the last minute, and the budget well...was there a budget?...
There were some girlfriends that always come over during the holidays to share Egg Nog Lattes with me. We never connected...
and the list goes on...
And now, here I am, on the other side of January 1 and in a new year - 2008.
What happened, where did the time go, how did I get caught so off guard?
I'll tell you what happened. Life's been happening. Between homeschooling, two kids in three different kinds of therapy, extra jobs for extra money, Bible study, keeping house, etc, etc....LIFE IS HAPPENING IN SURROUND SOUND.
No matter which way I turn, I'm bombarded with things to do, things to accomplish, things to finish.
And no, they are NEVER finished. Life keeps happening and keeps getting in the way of ability to fully prepare for and enjoy the current season.
Last year, I had grand aspirations of slowing down and that never happened. Why? Because I kept doing the next thing. And life just keeps happening. There is always one more thing to do. One more person to support. One more program to participate in. One more place that I could be. Life keeps coming.
Let me let you in on a little secret that I'm really learning and grabbing a hold of...
Life does stop or slow down...but I can. My desire to be still enough to hear the still small voice of God doesn't get fulfilled because I wish it be so. I am able to attain peace, simplicity, and stillness in my life because I make the choices that are required to achieve this state. My inability to fully engage in the current season has to do with the choices that I make to fit in the things that matter.
There are so many times where I've heard people say that they don't know where the years went, or that time passed way too quickly, or that they wish they wouldn't have been in so much of a hurry. This is the state of living where most of us reside. We are always running, just trying to make it to the next thing, or pass through the current landscape. We are just trying to make it and struggling to stay afloat. We are living, constantly challenged to fully engage in the current season of life.
I believe with all of my heart that it doesn't have to be this way. It is possible to smell the flowers and enjoy the journey. In my mid-thirties, I'm just now realizing how challenging that can be in the society in which we live. We are encouraged to rush, to go, and to do. We are not encouraged to be.
Just like Christmas and New Years came upon me suddenly and unexpectedly, Jesus worns us in the Bible of not being ready for his return.
Matthew 24:36-44 (NIV)
The Day and Hour Unknown
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left."Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
He also worns us of being busy doing this that don't matter and missing Him.
Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
At the Home of Martha and Mary
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 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!""Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
My challenge over the next couple of weeks will be to figure out what exactly it is that I'm doing that gets in my way of having room in my life to watch for him and to do what matters. My challenge will be to make different choices and to stop doing some things out of habit and start doing other things on purpose.
My challenge will be to stop allowing the ebb and flow of life from determining the flow of my own life.
And it is a challenge. I am a self-confessed doer, an achiever, and a "check-off-my-list" kind of person. But this is my desire. I'm slowly waking up on the other side of Holiday Season '07 and coming to realize that it's over and I just made it by the skin of my teeth.
With all of my heart, I do not want to slowly wake up on the other side of Chrystal's Season on earth and realize that I just made it, challenged beyond repair by the demands of the world on my time. I want to overcome. I want to flourish. I want to be on top of the things that matter in my life - the things that matter to God for this one life he has given me to live. I want to make life-altering, life-giving, life-changing CHOICES. What are those choices? That's what I'll be praying about seriously for a few days in the immediate future.
Lord help me to learn the discipline of stillness, of looking, waiting, and watching for you. I don't want to miss where you are and what you are doing. I don't want to realize after you have moved that you were at work and I was too busy to notice. Help me know what choices to make to align myself with your purposes and plans.
I need Thee how I need Thee
Every hour I need Thee
O Bless me now my Savior
I come to Thee
Every hour I need Thee
O Bless me now my Savior
I come to Thee
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