a life of fun, inspiration, and action

Yesterday I went to the monthly Youth Management Team meeting (YMT).  As always, Aaron had some tasty goodness to eat (thank goodness it was my cheat day b/c those cream puff thingies were amazing!).  We discussed business, like the ONE Event on September 13th – so excited.  And Tammy taught some stuff.  The teachings are always good, but this one was perfect.  It was right on time and exactly what Jamie and I were discussing the very day before.  We’ve reached a place in our lives that we can no longer just “go”.  We need to sit down and re-evaluate where we are as a family, where we want to be, and how to get there.  The teaching Tammy gave us is applicable to your personal life as well as your ministry.  You can take this lesson and apply it to everything from a business venture to a relationship. Its awesome.  She said she first heard this from this guy.  These are questions and steps that you can take and ask yourself about whatever situation you need to evaluate.  So here are my notes…

“5 Questions for a Life of Fun, Inspiration, and Action”

1. What Do You Want? – (a) find a space and time just for you. (b) make a connection to your core values. (c) get clear on the situation at hand. (d) imagine outrageous success, what does it look like. (e) clarify your bottom line, what is the minimum you’d accept. (f) find the sweet spot between d & e

2. Am I Stuck? or Where Am I Stuck? – where do i feel in a rut? where are there “should haves”? what am i tolerating? where am i frustrated? Now write down all those things so you can stare the problem in the face.

3. What is Possible? – (a) give yourself some time to really think. (b) get away from your usual place. (c) set yourself a target of new ideas, 5 minimum. (d) press the pause button on the “i can’t” voice. (e) as some creative and powerful questions like “if i couldn’t fail, what would i do?”, “whats the easiest/safest/boldest/most fun thing do to?” (f) start shaping your solution for what is possible

4. What Do I Already Know? – ask yourself: (a) when i was on top and having fun, what was it (alone or with others; familiar or spontaneous; inside or outside; self focused or others centered?) and (b) be specific (who do i want more of; who do i want less of; what makes me come alive; what makes me laugh; what helps me escape?)

5. What Am I Going To Do About It? – get clear on your priorities and plan JUST the next step… then TAKE IT

I hope that helps you. In life we always need to ready-aim-fire, then aim-fire, aim-fire, etc. These questions are exactly what you need for aiming BEFORE you fire!  Thanks Tammy!!

emergency diaper situation

Oh.My.Word. This morning started off with pure craziness.  Charlotte slept late, and I hold tightly to the old adage of “never wake a sleeping baby”, because that means that mama gets to sleep in too!  So when she finally did wake up, I heard her fussing. I got up, went to the potty, mixed up her bottle in the kitchen, then went to get her out of her crib.  And when I opened the door. Oh.My.Word.

She was holding her blanket up in front of her like she was terrified, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs.  I glanced around the room to see what she was so afraid of, but seeing nothing, I pulled the blanket down and then I saw it. She was wet up to her neck. Her onesie was completely soaked, even the long sleeves. The blanket was soaked, Duckie was soaked, and when I picked her up, I saw the puddle that she was sitting in.  Her socks were dripping, and the puddle had probably started to drip onto the floor.  I put her over onto the changing table, and looked around for a pair of scissors. I was going to cut off the onesie, all ER style, so I didn’t have to drag pee all over her face.  Finding no scissors, I unsnapped the onesie, and then I saw the REAL mess.  The diaper had literally exploded from the top. That gel filling was oozing out all over her stomach and it looked like the front of the diaper might burst open too.  I froze for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. And in that moment, she reached down and touched her stomach and before I knew what was happeneing, had some of that gel nastiness in her mouth.  Remember, she’s still screaming at the top of her lungs.  So I scrape out her mouth, with her still screaming, and then I grab the (soaked) blanket from her bed, wrap it around her, and proceed to take her to the bath tub.  As I’m walking across her room, that gel filling dropped out onto the carpet. Oh.My.Word.

So I get her into the bathroom, set her down nastiness and all, turn on the water, which takes 8 years to get warm on that side of the house. I get the temperature right, somehow get her undressed and standing in the tub, hose her off, while she’s screaming, crying, and sliding everywhere.  I get her hosed down, towelled off, and I take her back into her room.  I lay her on the floor, put a clean diaper on her and take her into the living room.  I lay her down propped up with the Boppy, and give her the bottle.  Then I go into her room, scoop up the gel on the floor, pull all dripping soaked and nasty clothes and bedding into a pile, drop it in the washing machine, then I throw away the onesie and the diaper + contents.

She was fine and dandy after her morning bottle, apparently I’m the only one that remembers this awful experience.  … But now she has a lovely rash on her tummy. Sigh. Remind me again why I want to have another baby?

simplicity

Jamie and I are on a quest to simplify.  I don’t really know when it started, but somehow we ended up here, questioning every single one of our possessions and “needs”.  When Jamie first got saved, he dumped everything.  He even gave away his bed and slept on the floor for a very long time after coming home from a mission trip.  He needed to purge his old life, the good, the bad, the neutral, in order to start a new life.  So many times our stuff, the things we think we need, get in the way of what life is really all about.  We aren’t in a place where we are just getting rid of everything, but we are seriously questioning everything.  Do we really need a set of 12 glass punch cups? Do we really need 2 waffle makers, even if they do bake different shapes?  Do we really need 3 bedrooms? Do we really need a tv? Do we really need all these clothes that just sit in the laundry basket or get shoved to the back of the closet because we never wear them?

We started in the closets, purging every piece of clothing that hadn’t been worn in a month or so.  We got our closet cleaned out, organized, and were able to consolodate into one dresser.  Which meant that one dresser was empty and ready to leave the house.  Then we moved into the kitchen.  We packed away all but a set of 4 of everything.  I knew that at some point we would have more than 2 other people over, so we did keep the extra place settings, but we packed them up so they don’t get used every day.  I mean, really, is it that hard to wash 4 dishes a day as opposed to grabbing a new dish everytime until you end up with empty cabinets and a messy kitchen?  Then my purging turned to Charlotte’s stash-o-everything.  That child has more of everything than is ever necessary.  I am so grateful for  wonderful friends and family who bless us with just about everything we need for Charlotte.  And my word did we get blessed with stuff.  So I wanted to bless someone else with our excess.  I packed up all the things that she didn’t wear but I wanted to keep for future children, then everything else went to Good Will.  Charlotte went through such an exaggerated growth spurt that she completely skipped a couple of clothing sizes, so I had a lot of things with the tags still on them!

And now we are turning our simplicity campaign towards our house search.  Part of the reason we are selling our house is to simplify.  We want to be able to save more money and have more disposable income to give where it is needed.  And while you can get amazing deals right now on houses, and technically we could get a larger house for less money than we pay for ours right now, but how is that helping us simplify?  So we are on a search for what will really fit our family’s NEEDS and not just WANTS.

In what ways have you simplified your family’s life?

photo by Miss Jee’s Photography

freshy mcfresh

You know those days where you just wanna hide? When you don’t want to get outta bed b/c you know whats waiting for you outside the covers? Ugh, I had one of those days today.  I was tired, ticked off, disgruntled, and generally mad at the world. … BUUUUUt, of course its those days that others need you. As the day progressed and Family Emergency #2 surfaced, I thought, “Geez, why is it that the ONE FREAKIN day I wanna hide from the world and be a selfish snot face, is the one day that the world seems to need me.” But of course, even as I was thinking those words in my head, I was getting a spiritual thump from the Holy Spirit.  And if you’ve ever been thumped by Pastor Steve or Pastor Micah, then you have a general idea of what a thumping from the Holy Spirit can feel like, lol. And then my wonderful husband decided that it was time that we pray. (Why does it bother you when you know you need to pray, but someone else says it??!!) So we prayed, and as we were praying, and I was trying my best to keep a sour look on my face just because I felt like staying mad, I was reminded of something Carl Lentz at DBTW said .  He reminded us that Proverbs 11:25 says that those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.  That kinda sounds similar to the reaping + sowing deal.  God’s a funny one. So, I tried to suck it up and help my family out. And you know, I kinda do feel better.  Sure, I could sit here and dwell on all the things that still bug me that aren’t resolved yet, but why? I’m gonna take that freshy mcfresh feeling and roll with it.

So who can you refresh today?

i just call you mine

This summer has been challenging. In many ways.  We put our house on the market, we’ve been meticulously watching Charlotte’s weight gain, and Jamie has traveled. Oh has that man traveled.  And its been the traveling that has been the most challenging.

I should know and understand what my husband does for a living and why travel is a part of it. But that doesn’t make the long days by myself any easier. To be honest, I’ve had a hard time not being mad about it. “Oh great, you’re going to be gone for ANOTHER week. Yay.” And sometimes that lack of enthusiasm has spilled out into public view. Which is wrong. It doesn’t matter how I feel about any situation, I should always be the picture of support and encouragement to the outside world.  But ya know, God has a funny way of reminding me of things.

I was reading blogs today, like I do every morning, and I read a post a wife had written about her husband’s birthday.  This passage especially caught my attention:

“He was full of adventures, tales of travels, and a sparkle in his blue eyes that told me his adventuring had only just begun. I had known nothing in my life as strongly and instantly as I knew that day that I wanted to be on whatever adventure he was on.”

That is exactly how I felt when I met Jamie.  I was young, excited about life, and wanted big adventures to go on.  Jamie had the same passion.  So why now, when he is finally living out his dreams and adventures, do I sit back and whine about it?  Being the mother of his children is the biggest adventure I can be a part of, being his wife is so exciting, being his ministry partner just takes my breath away. I, me, Jennifer, get to be in the passenger seat of his adventures. I get to go with him where he goes. Maybe not physically all the time, but I’m there. We are on adventures together. What is more exciting than that?? The day-to-day of those adventures aren’t always glamorous, and can be kind of mundane.  I mean, reaching the summit of Mt. Everest is accomplished by a lot of tedious work.  But its worth it.

I heard this song on the radio the other day, and it had me in tears. This is EXACTLY how I feel about Jamie. “Everyone who sees you, always wants to know you. Everyone who knows you, always wears a smile. Everyone calls you amazing, I just call you mine.”

critiquing or creating?

Ouch. I was doing my morning blog stalking, when I ran across this post:

Being a Christian Culture Snob

I scored at 32. Seriously, a 32. I know he’s all funny and joking and stuff, but wow, that kinda stung.  Do I really spend more time critiquing than creating?? Something to think about.