The Beautiful Life

Eyes to See

We bought the kids each a magnifying glass for nature study this year. It’s our first day and they have been playing with them for the last two hours and are currently on a bug hunt. Today we’ve seen: a fly, a mosquito, a jumping spider, a wolf spider, ants, a grasshopper, a beetle and an inchworm. It’s funny how that stuff is always there, but you don’t notice it because you aren’t looking…(well, except for the mosquitoes). Isn’t that how it is with God?

Making Room

As we’ve been cutting back and learning to live on less, I’ve been expecting it to be hard. And sometimes it is. I can’t just go out and buy anything I want anymore. I have to say “no.” I was prepared for that. What I wasn’t prepared for were the ways that God would continually surprise me by stepping in and giving me whatever I had thought I was going to have to do without. I thought I was just putting our family on a budget, but what I was really doing was making room for God to move in my life and for me to be humble enough to see it happen. In this living without, I am learning that God is more than enough. In the big, scary, life-changing moments, He is more than enough. In the day to day struggles, He is more than enough. In good times and bad, in sickness and in health, until He returns or calls me home. How He loves me.

Not So Fast

I grew up in a little white farmhouse in the country, where it took 30 minutes to get to the grocery store but 30 seconds to get to the backyard garden. Where swimming pools were a once-a-year treat, but creeks and ponds were every day. Looking back, life was blissfully slow. Although I didn’t always appreciate it then, I am really grateful now. In the midst of driving all over town for ballet lessons, worship meetings, prayer meetings, grocery shopping, playdates, etc., sometimes I just want to go squish my toes in some mud and lay down in the grass and watch the clouds.

The pace of life can get out of hand sometimes and it can be hard to say “no,” especially when those things are good. But over the last couple of years, I’ve started saying “no,” and in the saying “no” to the things that make me feel frazzled and busy, I’ve found time to say “yes” to the things that refresh and renew. I can say “yes” to a prayer time early in the morning. I can say “yes” to a rainy morning of stories and games and giggles. I can say “yes” to taking a long walk with my husband on our date night. I can say “yes” to a friend who unexpectedly drops by. I’m learning to slow down and listen, to connect and re-connect, to breathe, to wonder, to live.

Interested in learning how to live the slow life? I’m giving away a copy of Ann Kroeker’s new book, Not So Fast. Comment here or on Facebook to be entered to win (US residents only, please). Don’t forget to check out her companion site, Not So Fast, for more tips and articles, and you read my previous posts on slowing down here.

*Photos from my grandparents’ (now dad’s) farm, where I spent many slow summer afternoons.

The Lost Art of Letter Writing

I’ve been inspired by this post to take up letter writing with my sister. It’s perfect for us, because we both have a love for old fashioned things and she hates writing emails on her cute, but tiny new iPhone. I also don’t have long distance right now on my phone, so it makes calling her expensive.

My first note from her came a few days ago and I felt like a kid again getting that letter. There’s something exciting about a hand addressed envelope with your name on it. I also love that with letter writing, nothing can be hurried. It causes you to pause and think over your thoughts before putting them to paper. I think we all need that sometimes.

I guess the point of this post is to invite you all to take up your pens again and write. It can be a simple note, or several pages long. It can be a letter to your mother, your best friend from elementary school, your spouse, your sister. You will make their day, and when you get that first note back, it will make yours, too.

Quick tips for Slowing Down

Sorry for the title. I couldn’t resist the irony. On to the tips…

We try to practice these in our house.

1. Never run to answer the phone. If it’s that important, they will call you back. We also don’t own a cell phone, so I’m often unavailable, and I LOVE that.
2. Eliminate “hurry up” from your vocabulary. I’m not so good at this one yet, but I’m working on it.
3. Make eye contact. Actually looking someone in the eye causes you to slow down and focus on what they are saying. And it makes them feel like you are interested. It’s a win-win.
4. Get outside every day. There’s really nothing like a breath of fresh air. Why do you think people spend so much on air fresheners?
5. Spend a few minutes in prayer at the beginning of each day. I recently did a Beth Moore Bible study, and she talked about getting on her face before God every morning, literally. Whenever I do this, it helps me remember Who I am dependent on.
6. Make a home-cooked meal, from scratch, at least a couple of times a week. We are bombarded by instant everything, and it’s doesn’t even taste very good. Enlist the kids, your spouse, or a friend and spend some time together making dinner. Then sit down and savor it. Stay at the table and talk, even after you are all finished.
7. Record everyday moments. Take the time to snap a few photos, jot down something funny your toddler said, journal your prayers. You’ll be glad you did later.
8. Sew things by hand. Earlier this Spring, I made several dolls for some young friends who were having birthdays. My sewing machine has been broken, so I sewed them all entirely by hand. It was wonderful to have something quiet to do that didn’t require something that made noise. I don’t think I’ll ever do them by machine again. For less-ambitious moments, try sewing on that missing button or repairing a seam. It’s very rewarding and you’ll feel just like Ma Ingalls.
9. Play. When you go to the park with your kids, go down the slide, play hopscotch and swing. Get out the playdough and make something alongside the kids. Do a family art night.
10. Read aloud. Read novels, read poetry, read short stories–and do it slowly.

For more great tips on slowing down, and to pre-order what looks like a fabulous book by the lovely Ann Kroeker, mosey on over here.

The Ugly-Beautiful

I’m blogging over at Scrapartist this morning on artist dates and the ugly-beautiful.

Thinking more about slowing down…

We’ve been thinking a lot lately about slowing down. Even though our kids aren’t involved in a lot of activities, it seems like every day, especially our weekends, are hectic and busy, without really being productive…or happy. We’re always in a hurry to get from one thing to the next. And they are good things. But I’m learning that just because something is good, doesn’t mean it is what is best for us at this moment in time. A minute ago, I was a young new mom to a beautiful little girl. And now somehow she’s almost seven. Thirty seconds ago, I had three children three and under. Now they are all walking, talking, reading… And in all of our busyness, I’m missing these precious few moments to nurture and encourage, to hug and to love, before they grow up and fly away. (Although my daughter swears she will live right next door. I’d like to think it’s because she loves us, but I think she is realizing the need for a convenient babysitter.)

So after getting side-tracked for awhile, we are getting back to our roots–what do we want to make of this gift of life we’ve been given? It seems too precious to waste our days bouncing from one thing to the next, with no time to breathe, let alone remember Who gives us our very breath. There is too little time on this earth to spend it on things that we aren’t passionate about. So we are praying and planning and waiting to see where God leads us. We may end up on a farm in the country, tilling up our own plot of land. I sure hope so. But we may be called to be right where we are, learning to find rest and fulfillment in Him in the city. Wherever we go, whatever we do, I know this one thing. That I don’t want to waste my life on anything but Him, and I can’t do that when I’m in a hurry.

Related: I’ve really been inspired by this post on homesteading. It was one of those “that’s it!” moments for us.

Slowing down

Today was another one of those days. We just couldn’t get started doing anything. There were lists of things to check off, things to catch up on, school work to be done, it was cloudy and cold and I just couldn’t do it.

So instead we spent the morning hanging out in our pajamas, reading emails and looking at pretty things, making sandwiches, just taking time to hug and love on these sweet kids of mine.

After a humble, thrown-together lunch involving 2 carrots, some leftover pepperoni, cheese and sliced apples, we got to work.

But instead of starting at the top of the list and working our way down, I began with something fun. And messy. And colorful. There was paper everywhere and there were sticky fingers and big smiles. We didn’t rush, taking our time to sort and cut and paste. We didn’t clean up as we went along, or multi-task by listening to a story or reciting a verse. We were in the moment. And it was nice. Over an hour later, this is what we had:

(And we did eventually get to the not-so-fun stuff.)

Making Do…

I was ironing the other day, pressing out hot pink gingham, shaping it into girly curtains, thinking about pretty things…and dreading sewing them up on my in-desperate-need-of-a-tune-up sewing machine. I pictured the fabric bunching and me digging around for a tiny plastic seam-ripper, frustration creeping in before I’ve even begun. So I decided to plan ahead and while I was looking for the aforementioned seam-ripper, I found a big roll of fusible tape. I don’t remember buying it, but there it was. Now the perfectionist in me, who loves to do things “right”, rebelled a bit at the thought. But once I got it out, and pressed it onto still warm gingham, I felt a sigh of relief escape me. I didn’t feel guilty for “making do,” for taking what I’ve been told is the easy way out. It was liberating. I finished my curtains in half the time and they looked great.

And it hit me. Sometimes it’s okay to “make do”, to take a short-cut, to just get by. Sometimes it’s more important to get that extra half hour of rest, to spend time just giggling with a child, to avoid a frustrating sewing experience… It doesn’t have to be “perfection or nothing.” I don’t have to have it all together. What a wonderful thought. I should “make-do” more often.

My one regret…

For this week’s Digidare.

The journaling is my own thoughts, interspersed with some verses from Hebrews.

My words (in black, representing my mistakes, and unbelief):

“My one regret is that I’ve said ‘no.’
Busy doing my own thing, I hear you call my name,
and I say, ‘no, not right now, maybe later.’
Every bad decision, every selfish thought, every negative word–
haven’t these also been ‘no’s?”

And these are the verses (in white, representing truth):

“Today, if you hear my voice, do not harden your hearts.”
“With confidence draw near to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
“Lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily entangles and run the race set before us with endurance.”

Credits:
Metal Alpha by ED by Gabi at SA
Stamped Canvas Alpha by Amber Clegg at SA
Background paper from Softly Spoken by HGD by Laurie Ann at SA
Clips (recolored) from Git R Done by beAudacious Designs at WST
Alphabet Soup Acrylic Alpha by Emily Powers at WST
Worn frame by Danielle at Catscrap
Sequins from Purity by Natali Design at SBG
Tab alpha and newsprint circles from Creation 23 by Catherine Designs & Createwings Designs at A5
Jewel flower from a freebie by Vinnie Pearce on her blog
Clock stamp and stitches from Faith by Two Sisters (retired)