Family Rules
We are full-on into toddler mode in our house! It is a crazy, busy, beautiful, question-asking, "mommy-" saying, touching everything kind of season! I'm telling you, if she says "Mommy" once, she says it 150 times a day. Now I know why my mom used to say, "I'm going to change my name and not tell you what it is."
Let me tell you about this girl. She is blooming. I mean seriously coming out of her shell. We were looking at photos the other day of her homecoming day at the airport (January 6, 2012), and my how time changes things. It has a funny way of doing that. She is still shy when she walks into a new environment, but it's taking less and less time for her to "warm up" to where she is. She is social, chatty, and lately she loves putting her hands on her hips and prissing around the room. She's girly in some ways, but in others, she's all spunk. I dig her.
We've already had a "slip up" where mommy taught her a word for a body part that maybe wasn't the best word to use, and she started saying it a lot because we laughed when she did. But now I'm realizing that she doesn't need to say it to people in public so we're not saying it anymore. She's a sponge. She watches me wash my face, put on make-up (usually in the car--I know, not safe), and stand on the scale. Uh oh. I've been good so far not to make any faces or make any negative noises when I see the number on that scale because I don't want her to associate the scale with something mommy doesn't like. It's a tool to be used to let us know how far we've come and where we're going hopefully.
On our fridge, we have "Family Rules." It's there to remind mommy and daddy as much as anyone.
#5 is about identity. Our pastor preached about identity a couple of Sundays ago. And then, I went to a parents prayer at Amber Joy's preschool last Thursday, and guess what? The devotional was on identity too. Maybe God was trying to get my attention? The overarching theme for both was "who are you?" And my pastor took it a step further saying, "who do you want to be/become?" Honestly, that last blog I wrote was my first responses to those questions. Pastor talked about taking a look at our calendars to see what fills our time. He proposed that it was a pretty good indicator of what's important to us (as is our checkbook, but that's another post).
If I fill my calendar with only the things that will help me be/become who I believe God wants me to be, that overwhelms me. Maybe because it is SO far off who I am now. So how do you find balance between who you ARE vs. who you want to BE? If God loves us exactly the way we are, then why are we so hard on ourselves? I sabotage myself all.the.time. from being/becoming who I say I want to be. Isn't His grace enough? I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to improve, but maybe it's the motivation. Why do we want to improve? Out of guilt? Out of obligation? Trust me, I'm just working through these questions on my own and I have no clear answers yet. But as a Christian, I have been led to believe that God does love me EXACTLY the way I am, no change necessary. But I also believe that once Christ has invaded your life and you come to find your identity in Him, the desire to become more like Him will be too much to ignore.
So I'm going to lay it out there...what's on my calendar this week?
Tonight: yoga and taking out the trash. Interesting.
Tomorrow: Farmer's Market and grocery shopping. Then a doctor's appointment for Amber Joy to get the wax cleaned out of her ears. Lovely. In the afternoon, a visit to the pumpkin farm with two other mom friends and their kiddos.
Saturday: visiting with a friend going through a tough time and cleaning house for the college students from our church who are coming for lunch Sunday. And yes, I'm cooking. And yes, it will be pre-packaged frozen something.
Sunday: church and lunch with the college students.
Monday: hearing testing and new ear mold appointment with Amber Joy.
Tuesday: Amber Joy is on fall break from school so who knows? And that evening, Adoptive and Foster mom support group.
Wednesday: Speech therapy, story time at the library, and Amber Joy goes to the dentist for the first time.
Challenge time: what's on your calendar this week? Does it reflect who you are? Does it say something about who you want to be/become? I have tons of things I would like to add to the calendar, but it won't all fit. I want to read more, recipe plan more, cook more, blog more...maybe next week.
I would love to hear some of your comments.
Love,
Stephanie
Let me tell you about this girl. She is blooming. I mean seriously coming out of her shell. We were looking at photos the other day of her homecoming day at the airport (January 6, 2012), and my how time changes things. It has a funny way of doing that. She is still shy when she walks into a new environment, but it's taking less and less time for her to "warm up" to where she is. She is social, chatty, and lately she loves putting her hands on her hips and prissing around the room. She's girly in some ways, but in others, she's all spunk. I dig her.
We've already had a "slip up" where mommy taught her a word for a body part that maybe wasn't the best word to use, and she started saying it a lot because we laughed when she did. But now I'm realizing that she doesn't need to say it to people in public so we're not saying it anymore. She's a sponge. She watches me wash my face, put on make-up (usually in the car--I know, not safe), and stand on the scale. Uh oh. I've been good so far not to make any faces or make any negative noises when I see the number on that scale because I don't want her to associate the scale with something mommy doesn't like. It's a tool to be used to let us know how far we've come and where we're going hopefully.
On our fridge, we have "Family Rules." It's there to remind mommy and daddy as much as anyone.
#5 is about identity. Our pastor preached about identity a couple of Sundays ago. And then, I went to a parents prayer at Amber Joy's preschool last Thursday, and guess what? The devotional was on identity too. Maybe God was trying to get my attention? The overarching theme for both was "who are you?" And my pastor took it a step further saying, "who do you want to be/become?" Honestly, that last blog I wrote was my first responses to those questions. Pastor talked about taking a look at our calendars to see what fills our time. He proposed that it was a pretty good indicator of what's important to us (as is our checkbook, but that's another post).
If I fill my calendar with only the things that will help me be/become who I believe God wants me to be, that overwhelms me. Maybe because it is SO far off who I am now. So how do you find balance between who you ARE vs. who you want to BE? If God loves us exactly the way we are, then why are we so hard on ourselves? I sabotage myself all.the.time. from being/becoming who I say I want to be. Isn't His grace enough? I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to improve, but maybe it's the motivation. Why do we want to improve? Out of guilt? Out of obligation? Trust me, I'm just working through these questions on my own and I have no clear answers yet. But as a Christian, I have been led to believe that God does love me EXACTLY the way I am, no change necessary. But I also believe that once Christ has invaded your life and you come to find your identity in Him, the desire to become more like Him will be too much to ignore.
So I'm going to lay it out there...what's on my calendar this week?
Tonight: yoga and taking out the trash. Interesting.
Tomorrow: Farmer's Market and grocery shopping. Then a doctor's appointment for Amber Joy to get the wax cleaned out of her ears. Lovely. In the afternoon, a visit to the pumpkin farm with two other mom friends and their kiddos.
Saturday: visiting with a friend going through a tough time and cleaning house for the college students from our church who are coming for lunch Sunday. And yes, I'm cooking. And yes, it will be pre-packaged frozen something.
Sunday: church and lunch with the college students.
Monday: hearing testing and new ear mold appointment with Amber Joy.
Tuesday: Amber Joy is on fall break from school so who knows? And that evening, Adoptive and Foster mom support group.
Wednesday: Speech therapy, story time at the library, and Amber Joy goes to the dentist for the first time.
Challenge time: what's on your calendar this week? Does it reflect who you are? Does it say something about who you want to be/become? I have tons of things I would like to add to the calendar, but it won't all fit. I want to read more, recipe plan more, cook more, blog more...maybe next week.
I would love to hear some of your comments.
Love,
Stephanie
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