Author: Rachel

Note: I actually wrote this in October when I started preparing to launch the blog.  I hope you enjoy, and that you’re having a good Mom-Day today!  …If you’re a Mom  🙂

Some days are good Mom-Days.  Other days are just not so good.

This afternoon as I was folding some clothes, I found myself thinking.  It was naptime, of course, because we all know that this kind of thinking doesn’t occur outside of naptime.

So anyway, I found myself thinking that this had been a good Mom-Day.  And I smiled.  And then my mind began to scroll through the events of the day:

To when I was trying to unload the dishwasher and clear the sink of yesterday’s dishes, and Joshua used that time to climb up on the kitchen table and destroy half a box of baby wipes and shred the paper mail that was probably important.

To a few minutes later when, after I had gotten him off the table and sternly told him “We do NOT get on the table”, he and his big brother were BOTH on the table!  This time they were throwing my pumpkins on the floor.  The fall pumpkins I bought to replace our pumpkin patch ones that the neighborhood dog dragged away 2 weeks ago.  Yes.  Those pumpkins.  They’re still sitting on my kitchen table.  We’ve been eating around them for 2 weeks now.  Only now they’re in the floor and being treated like balls.  And that was time for a double-time-out.

As I continue folding laundry I’m already starting to laugh at the events that made up my good Mom-Day.  But just for the purpose of reflecting, I keep scrolling through the events in my mind.

There was also that moment where my oldest pooped in his underwear.  Did I mention we’re potty-training and my days are spent running to the potty every 15 minutes?  I got all of that cleaned up and some fresh underwear on my boy, and went back to my housework.

Twenty minutes later he came running into the kitchen and said “Uh-oh, guck!”  To my delight I discovered he had pooped in his fresh undies.  This time it was full and falling down his leg.  Sorry for the TMI, but I’m keeping it real.  I sat him on his potty and carefully wiggled his feet out of his underwear.  I threw them on the back porch to clean them up later, because I needed something to look forward to.  Then it was back inside to my son sitting on his potty, still covered in poop.  I grabbed the wipes and began wiping him off before I realized that this job was just way too big for baby wipes.

So we slowly headed to the bathtub, being super careful not to touch ANYTHING on the way.  Then I made the super-mom decision that I couldn’t reward my son for pooping in his underwear, so a bath was out of the question.  Baths are his favorite, after all.  So instead I chose to torture him with a shower.  I got to hear a few new levels of screaming come from his little body.

Meanwhile in the other room, my other son has filled his diaper and decides to go for a ride on his brother’s bat-mobile.  No sooner have I cleaned up one boy than I look to see the other one gleefully riding down the hallway on a poop-covered car, and the car is leaving “residue” everywhere it drives.  Oh the joy!

I clean all of that mess up, get the boys settled and head outside to the back porch to take care of those dirty undies.  I super-carefully turn them inside-out, lay them on the concrete at the end of the stairs, and grab the water hose.  I got them all clean, draped them over the porch rail, and was about to head inside when I realized there was a remnant of that lovely surprise right outside the back door where I had first thrown them out.

I re-grab the water hose and spray the porch off as well.  Finally finished, I put the hose away and head inside.  My two boys are sitting at the door watching Mommy play with the water hose. As I open the door, I remembered that the seal at the bottom of the door was broken.  The poopy water had been pushed—by MY water hose—under the door, into my kitchen, and all over my boys’ legs, who thought it was awesome that Mommy had sprayed water under the door at them.

Yes.  It has definitely been a good Mom-day.

And as I sit here folding laundry, I’m thankful.

I’m thankful that I chose to spend time with God this morning.

I’m thankful that we’ve been teaching our son to pray, and that I was able to hold his little hand this morning and pray with him.

I’m thankful for the online class I listened to while I was cleaning this morning.  The one about keeping the gospel as the focus and purpose of everything you do as a homemaker.

I’m thankful for the Bible Storybook I read to the boys over lunch, and I’m thankful that they love our daily Bible story & memory verse time.

I’m thankful for those things, because without those things I would have had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  In the throes of TWO boys in toddlerhood, I NEEDED God to get me through my morning.  And He not only got me through the morning; He got me through it with a smile on my face.  He got me through it, and then gave me a rare instance of two boys napping at the same time so that I’d have a moment to appreciate it.

The Joy of the Lord is TRULY my strength.

He gave me a TRULY good Mom-day.  Not by changing the events and making my boys the most perfect, obedient children ever.  Not by miraculously giving me a spotless house.  Not by sending an angel to fold my laundry.

No.  He gave me a good Mom-day just by being present in my day.  By reminding me He has a plan for all the chaos.  By showing me that He is LORD, even over the mundane and messy things.

He is Lord over the pumpkins on my table.  Over the mounds of laundry.  Over potty-training and poop explosions.  He is LORD.  He is Lord while I’m refereeing toddler boy fights, and He is Lord when I am hosing off a poopy porch.

HE IS LORD, and I’m thankful.  Because without Him, I would have had a very bad Mom-day.  But with Him, I soaked in the quiet of naptime as I reflected on a day that really was a GOOD Mom-Day.

I’m not going to give you a cookie cutter pattern of everything I plan on posting.  And I’m not going to guarantee that this blog won’t morph into something a little different over time.  But I do want to make a commitment to you all—my readers and friends.  For the foreseeable future, I want to share FOUR things with you all on a consistent basis.

FUN!

Most things I write will be focused on spiritual things, but I will never stop there!  I plan to do giveaways, tell funny stories, and even do some decorating, DIY, or fashion posts!  We are women, after all, and God created women to be feminine, to be more talkative than men, and obviously to wear nice clothes!  You’ve read about the Proverbs 31 woman’s family being clothed in scarlet, and how she dressed herself in fine linen, right?  And you know what?  She was even PRAISED in the BIBLE for wearing nice clothes!  So if she does it…..we ladies have no reason to pretend it’s wrong to wear nice things!  Clothes might seem a little superficial, but they also present to the world around us a visual picture of who we are.  On top of that, I have more energy and get more accomplished when I dress in nice clothes!  Yoga pants and a t-shirt are comfortable, and definitely have their place in my closet, but they also lead me to be lazy on my couch.  Nicer clothes inspire me to be more.  If that’s you as well, I hope you’ll enjoy some of my fun “superficial” posts.  And I hope you’ll get some ideas for embracing your femininity and cultivating beautiful things into your life that can make you smile.

Bible Study

Daily Bible reading, Sunday School or small group lessons, and Sermons should be a consistent part of any Christian’s life.  When we walk with the Lord, we are constantly placed face-to-face with His Word.  These encounters in my life are always teaching me, and I am always growing in my faith and character as a result.  I’d like to share with you the Bible truths that God is teaching me right now, and I’d LOVE to hear you share the things He is teaching you.  Together we can learn So. Much. More.

Spiritual Lessons

I like to call these ‘parables’ from my life.  I can’t tell you how often God teaches me some deep spiritual truth using something that happens during my day.  For years now, God has done this, yet it always surprises me!  It shouldn’t, because Jesus did this all through Scripture!  Depending on which Bible Scholar you consult, you can find up to 46 different parables in the 4 Gospels.  My Sunday School teacher always told me they were “earthly stories with heavenly meanings.”  Jesus used them when He walked the earth, and God is STILL using them today in our lives!  He shows us some truth from His Word, but He shows it to us using something that’s just happened in our lives.  These are my favorite things to share in a blog.  People really related to Jesus’s parables during Bible times, and—Big surprise—People still tend to relate to other people’s stories more than just hearing a verse by itself.  Seeing someone else experience God’s Truth lived out in their life can be so incredibly powerful!

My Life

I don’t want to be some person on the internet who writes things that you read sometimes.  Many of my readers I know in “real life”, but even if we’ve never met—I want YOU to feel like you know me.  I want you to feel like I’m a good friend that you’d sit down with at a coffee shop for a chat, or go shopping with, or call to ask a question about some random thing that’s going on in your life.  I want to be friends.  I want to share my life and my heart with you all, and I hope that you’ll do the same with me!

My goal is to start fairly slow, posting about twice a week, but I’d love to post even more often!  I’ll also be available by email or on Facebook each day.  You can contact me using the “Contact” link at the top of this page.  You can email me, OR you can come over to my Facebook page and join in the conversations that are happening there!

Before I set out to post the more ‘regular’ posts about faith, family, homemaking and other fun things, I want to share WHY I decided to start blogging again!   There are so many small reasons that I could have ignored, but these three reasons are the ones I just can’t escape–the ones that have been beating in my heart for over a year now.

1.  I LOVE writing!

In spite of the fact that I lost my honor’s scholarship mostly due to the papers I wrote for my English class, writing has become a passion for me!  I love journaling my thoughts and prayers, sending cards or letters, and writing Facebook statuses that are way too long.  Hopefully now that I’m back to blogging I will be able to give my Facebook friends a break!  (Let’s be honest…That’s probably not going to happen…)

2.  For Personal & Spiritual Reflection

Writing enables me to think more deeply.  When I’m writing often, I start to consider everyday moments in light of a bigger picture.  I begin examining my words, my actions, and my feelings.  When I’m writing, I try to look under the surface to find a story or an explanation.  I might begin to write the story that’s in my sinful heart, but seeing my heart written in black and white has this way of showing me how sinful and dirty my heart really is.  My excuses only sound good in my head, or thrown out in the middle of an argument.  In text, they stand out boldly as the deceivers that they are.  When I’m writing, I become a better person.  I examine myself.  I find truth through prayer and His Word.  I become a better person, also, because of YOU—my readers.  While you could comment on my posts and ream me, that’s not really what makes me better.  It’s, instead, the responsibility God gives me for the words I share with you.  I’m automatically pushed to higher standard simply because I’m now a potential leader for other women.  That’s not a responsibility that I take lightly, and my hope and prayer is that I will never lead you away from God or His Truth.

3.  To Build Up Other Women

Titus 2 gives a clear command for women to teach women.  Much of my generation seems to be missing out on the rich wisdom that the women who’ve gone before us have to offer.  I want to be a woman who:

• Is willing to be used by God as a teacher.
• Teaches those who are younger than I am in the faith.
• Connects women with other women who will point them to Christ.

I fully believe that this blog and the community of women it builds can be used greatly by God.  I’ve been challenged, convicted, and encouraged by so many things I’ve read across the internet.  It is my hope that this blog will become a place where you will find hope, joy, contentment, laughter, and most of all—wisdom from God that is based on His Word.

I’m so glad that you’re here today, and if you are a woman—I hope you’ll keep coming back!  My deep desire is that this blog will be a place where you and I can be nudged a little closer to the Lord.  A place you can come when you are in the trenches, knowing that there’s someone else here who is there with you—walking through the sludge.  A place to connect with other women.  In a world that has a tendency to beat us down, I hope this will be a place that will build you right back up—empowering you to live the God-honoring, fulfilling life that can only happen through Christ.

{A New Start}

I used to blog, before I became a mom.  I loved it, and even had a pretty decent following for a blog that I didn’t put much time or money into.  But then I got pregnant, and pregnancy was rough on me.  I was working full-time, my husband was in his last semester of Seminary, and we were working toward moving 10 hours away.  I didn’t intend on stopping altogether, but that’s exactly what I did.  I completely disappeared from the blogosphere.  My blogging went from 3-4 posts a week, to once a month, to never.

I intended to pick it back up after our move, and after the baby came.  But I’m sure many of you know what life is like when you have a new baby in your house.  Add on top of that a traumatic delivery and a short NICU stay, and it was all I could do to get out of bed and load the dishwasher.  Six months into being a new mom, I found out I was pregnant.  Again!  I told myself life would settle down and I would get back to blogging.  In a way, it has settled down.  We’ve moved to a small town and my husband is a pastor now, but he works from home rather than a church office.  We’re able to do ministry together, and family together, and that has freed up a lot of my time and my mental function (mom brain, anyone?).

In other ways, life has gotten even busier.  We now have TWO toddler boys going full-speed most of the day—one of whom would prefer to just skip his nap altogether, and only needs about 7 hours of sleep per night.  I spend so much of my time chasing them, cleaning, and then re-cleaning! But I’ve also learned that the time for blogging is never going to just appear.  I have to carve it out.  I’ve been working on doing so for the last several months, and I actually waited to launch this blog until I knew I could stick with it.  I *think* I’m there now, so I’m diving in!  I hope you’ll all dive in with me!

Next up I’ll be sharing my reasons for blogging with you, and Tuesday I’m going to let you know what to expect from me and my blog!  I hope you’ll come back and visit me!

For now, take a few minutes and read my bio under “About Rachel”.  Leave a comment either here or there, and then head on over to connect on my Facebook page!  I’m so ready to get to know you, and I’m excited that you’re here to start this journey with me!