Mommy 101: lesson 1

Always put the cookies up where the children cannot reach them. This does not include the top of the fridge.

AC

Creative Types

Just the other day I was having a conversation with my friend about being creative. We were laughing because although we both love all forms of creativity (music, dance, art, theater etc.) we cannot do any of them. I said "Yeah, I can tell you if something is good or not but don't ask me to get up there and do it!"



The question of the day is: "What have you appreciated today?"

Show Me What I Am Looking For...

I have found that the older that I get the more I don't seem to know. I don't know how to install good character into my children much less model it for them. I don't know how to make cute crafts or do fun things. I don't know what to say to a friend that has a struggling marriage or is just been hurt by their mom. I am not sure what to do when your husband is gone for 6 months because of work and then how to reconnect the marriage. See and that is not even counting the things that I don't know that I don't know. It can be so overwhelming and big and crazy. It makes me at times want to give up.

The funny thing is a recently got encouragement from an unlikely source. I was listening to the radio and the song "Show Me What I Am Looking For" by the Caroline Liars came on and oh my gosh it is amazing. Here is the lyrics that stood out to me the most:

Save me, I'm lost
Oh Lord I've been waiting for you
I'll pay any cost Save me from being confused
Show me what I'm looking for Show me what I'm looking for
Oh Lord

This perfectly captures how I feel.

Save me, I am Lost and have no clue where I should go next. Oh Lord I have been waiting for you and I will give up self, desire, and wants to see You more clearly. Because I am not content to live this life wandering and waiting but I want to move forward in my relationship with you, learn more, grasp more, want more. But most of all show me what I should be looking for, show me what is the thing I need most.

Now this song does not solve my difficulties or the overwhelmingness but it does shed hope onto the situation because it reminds me that God honors a heart that is searching. (Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.") And that is what I am going to keep doing, imperfectly, is search for Him. Search in His word, in the world He created, in the people He has put in my life and know through my mistakes he can make whole and through my failings he can make complete.

As I am writing this I am filled with gratitude. So how has God proved himself through your mistakes today?

Poem for you!

I found this poem and thought it was so cute and perfect. i love how she perfectly captures how we have all these questions in our head and we only ask the least scary or say the least scary. So enjoy!

I Confess
I stalked her
in the grocery store: her crown
of snowy braids held in place by a great silver clip,
her erect bearing, radiating tenderness,
watching
the way she placed yogurt and avocados in her basket,
beaming peace like the North Star.
I wanted to ask, “What aisle did you find
your serenity in, do you know
how to be married for fifty years or how to live alone,
excuse me for interrupting, but you seem to possess
some knowledge that makes the earth turn and burn on its axis—“
But we don’t request such things from strangers
nowadays. So I said, “I love your hair.”

-Alison Luterman

Independance Day

This is a beautiful post I found about the significance of today!

http://dailypieces.blogspot.com/2009/07/lest-we-forget.html

Prayer for My Friends

I got this email today and just loved the prayer! I am printing it out and putting it up so when I think of a friend to pray for this will be my prayer! :)

Dear God: The lady reading this is beautiful, classy and strong, and I love her. Help her live her life to the fullest. Please promote her and cause her to excel above her expectations.. Help her shine in the darkest places where it is impossible to love. Protect her at all times, lift her up when she needs you the most, and let her know when she walks with you, She will always be safe. Love you Girl!!!!

AC

A little sympathy?

Yesterday L was sick. Fever, throwing up all that so at bed time I was said "Let's read stories in L's room!" Well J would have nothing to do with it. She did not care that her sister was sick. She wanted us to read in her room. So I told her that I was going to read L a story and I would be back to read to her.

That didn't go over very well.

So I went in L's room and cuddled with her, she didn't want a story so I just prayed and gave her a kiss goodnight.

Meanwhile, J had thrown a book in L's room and had wrapped herself in a blanket, laying face down on the bed crying. Lord have mercy! The best part is she says to me, "You love L more than you love me!"

I took one look at her pitiful face and just felt compassion because she really felt that because I didn't give in to her that must mean that I love L more. Oh my dear girl.

I picked her up and gave her a big hug and said, "That is a lie J. I love you both and God made my heart big enough so that I could love you both." Remarkably that seemed to make things better and I proceeded with bedtime.

As I reflect on this story, at first i just laughed because I was like can J ever show sympathy for someone else? She is a little self-absorbed! :) But then I thought, "Wow! The lies that she believes and she is only 4!" I wish I could read their thoughts so I could destroy any lies that they think of in their little minds. Even though I cannot read minds, I can talk to my Heavenly Father and ask him to speak truth into their lives, thoughts and heart. To let them know in their deepest part that they are loved, beautiful and uniquely created. That He made them to do great works! (Ephesians 2:10"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.")

So join me in praying for the people in our lives that believe the lies that God will reveal His truth to them!

AC

But chickens should run free....

Chickens in particular their eggs is what I want to share today. I always went to grocery store and picked up a thing of eggs not really thinking about it in till one day I read a book to my girls.

I got this book for my oldest daughter because it was about a brave little chicken and I thought that would be good for her to read about all the brave things this chicken does. Well, towards the end of this story the chicken gets locked up in a cage and she says "Chickens don't belong in cages! Chickens should roam free!"

Well, I most have been really emotional that day because it was there in that moment that I decided to never buy regular eggs again and to always buy the cage free, gain fed eggs even if they are more expansive all because of a children's book.

Who knew that a children's book could be so convicting for me at least. Now I am a little more careful about what books I am reading to my children.

AC

Ready, Set...

SO you may be wondering why my blog is called "Gravity is Strong There" and not just Anna's blog. Well, I trip a lot and not just on typical things like a toy on the ground or something is in my way. No I trip on nothing, air you might say or if I am standing still I may all of a sudden feel the need to catch my balence. I am not sure why this happens to me all the time but whenever it does I always say "Watch put! Gravity is strong there!" It makes me laugh and usually the people I am with laugh so they don't think I am insane for tripping on nothing. I just blame it on gravity. Well the point is I don't just physically trip, I trip over people's emotions, my children's needs, my husband's wants and various other things in my daily life. I wanted to have a place to dialog about these things as I stuggle to figure out the balence between my children (2 of them), my husband, work (full time job) and all the other little things that make up my life. I am excited to be able to share these things with you because I don't think I am the only one who deals with all this and would love to hear what you have to say. As a disclaimer: I am not a very good writer so please do not hate me for bad spelling, grammer and other various writing faults that I have. :) So enjoy and feel free to comment I love to hear what other people are thinking!

AC