The Beautiful Life

The Offence of Grace

Note: I wrote this a couple of months ago, and never posted it. Maybe it will speak to you today.

Yesterday I did something really dumb. And I couldn’t fix it myself. I’m so used to being the “super mom”, the one who saves the day. I fix broken toys, broken bodies, broken hearts. It’s my job. But yesterday, I couldn’t fix it. I was dependent on someone else to do it for me. I had to admit that I made a mistake and then wait for it to be fixed. Just wait. I kept being tempted to try to make it better, but knowing that whatever I tried to do would only make things worse. And she wasn’t even mad at me. I wanted her to say, “boy, you sure screwed up.” That’s what I deserved. But she didn’t. She gave me grace. And perspective.

Isn’t it the same with Christ? We screw up. We fall short. We make mistakes. And then we try to fix it ourselves, all the while, making a muddle of everything. And then we have a choice, we can continue on in this mess, “getting what we deserve,” or we can accept that we can’t fix it. Only Jesus can take away my sin, make me clean, change my heart, make things new. It’s offensive, this grace. It’s hard to say, “I give up, I’m at Your mercy, I can’t do it myself.”

He’s not surprised when we fall short. He knew what we were like when He chose us. So we should not be ashamed to come to Him, to crawl into His lap and say, “Abba, I can’t…only You can…” And then He does. He delights in restoring and healing and making new, because He loves us.

So even if it’s offensive, let’s choose grace. Give grace to everyone you know, and receive it from the One who gave up everything for you. It’s so much better this way.

Project 365, Here I Come!

1/365

First photo of the year. If this photo is any indication, it’s gonna be a good year.

Project 52–Week 52

I actually made it through all 52 weeks! Woohoo! I’m thinking about trying out Project 365 next year, but I’m still debating. We’ll see. Anyway, on to the last photo of the year…

Have a happy New Year!

Project 52–Week 51

We just finished reading Peter Pan in school today, so I’ve got a bunch of pirates on my hands now. Aren’t they terrifying?

Project 52–Weeks 49 & 50

Week 49: Owen is Mario Brothers obsessed, so when we saw this project on Sew Mama, Sew! the other day, we had to make them right away!

Week 50: It was really cold here last week and hot ham and bean soup and homemade cornbread muffins were just what we needed!

Project 52–Weeks 46-48

Catch up time!

Week 46: We finally got our house on the market. After years of talking about moving, we are actually going to do it!

Week 47: We took two weeks off from school to just relax and do some fun Thanksgiving-related crafts that I don’t usually have the energy to do after we are in school all morning.

Week 48: We always put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving. Owen is really obsessed with the Mario Brothers, so I took his broken Mario and hot glued some ribbon to his head. Instant Christmas ornament. And I think it made him feel the loss of Mario’s foot a little less.

Project 52–Week 45

I was over at the Bethany House of Prayer the other day, walking around the land and taking pictures for their new website. Of course, we had lots of kids in tow and Graham insisted on me taking this shot. He’s such a sweetie.

Project 52–Weeks 43 & 44

Week 43: I was taking photos of our house to get it ready to put on the market, and Owen kept getting in all of the photos! See him peeking out from behind the tree?

Week 44: I bought these wonderful letters made by Likely and they came in the mail the other day. The kids LOVED them and we spent a couple of hours playing word games, sorting letters and just carrying the pieces around. Fun, fun!

Project 52–Weeks 41 & 42

He thinks he’s Spiderman. Every single time I take out the camera.

The day’s reading selections for school: Raft (wonderful book!), Heidi, Beehive Reader, Beyond the Great Mountains, A Child’s Calendar. Life is slow, and life is good.

Inspired by Ann and Ann.

Homeschool Mental Health Day

To say it’s been a stressful few weeks is an understatement. We’ve lost loved ones, dealt with job stress, strained relationships, unexpected house repairs, all while God is working on our hearts and preparing us to make some changes. As I write this, my husband is attending an out-of-state funeral for his grandpa, the third grandparent he has lost in two months.

Today, I woke up with a massive to-do list, needing to make preparations for receiving my mother-in-law tonight, homeschool with the kids and get caught up on the things that I let slide over the weekend. Good thing my to-do list is on a dry-erase board!

Instead of struggling out of bed, I went back to sleep. The kids got their own breakfast and let me rest. Nice. After I got up and started laundry, I decided we needed to just take the day off from business as usual. We needed some time for our bodies and minds to recuperate. So without further ado, here is how to have a “mental health day” while still homeschooling.

1. Close the curtains so none of your neighbors sees the chaos in your living room. This step is really easy if you still haven’t opened the curtains from last night. Admire the sunlight streaming through cheap cotton. Science, check.

2. Let your kids go crazy with the playdough. Have them find every tiny plastic toy in your house and dump it on the table. Art, check.

3. While you’ve got out the playdough, encourage 5th-century-barbarian-attack re-enactments with Polly Pockets, knights and some plastic army guys. History, check.

4. Rummage through the refrigerator and see what you can come up with for lunch in under 30 seconds. Decide on pepperoni, cheddar cheese and crackers. Justify it by remembering that these crackers are ORGANIC. Sprint up the stairs with three plates to hungry, waiting children. Watch as children jump up and down with excitement about eating pepperoni on a plate. Physical education, check.

5. Let children eat “lunch” in laundry closet. Give them two flashlights and some blankets and let them go to town. Admire their ability at so quickly figuring out how to fit three people in such a small space. Math, check.

6. Set out small pile of reading material, choosing books with colorful covers, where possible. Take a picture of it, because it looks so pretty all stacked up on the counter. Decide it looks too nice to mess with and read aloud from a couple of library books instead. Reading, check.

7. Survey the mess that is now your house, and decide that you still have 5 hours before anyone can possibly show up at your front door. Pour a cup of hot tea, send the kids off to quiet time and go hide out with a book.

Happiness, check.