where fresh air finds you
How about two special, better-than-a-slice-of-cake treats for your Mother’s Day Sunday?
The first one below: You are mighty because you mother, featuring words of my friend and cheerleader for mamas Lisa-Jo Baker.
(subscribers click here to view)
And if you feel more Velveteen Mother than Hallmark Mother, this by Ann Voskamp is for you and me.
Every so often, as my almost-taller-than-me children and I cruise the aisles at the grocery store or Target, some sweet soul will notice one of my sons sporting his favorite Maui t-shirt. They want to know: Did you vacation there recently? Once they find out we lived there, they follow-up with the same question: What’s that like?? But given the drive-by nature of grocery store encounters, we have to answer in a way that sums it all up.
So, one of us usually gives an answer along the lines of,
“It had it’s highs and lows, but we wouldn’t trade our time there for anything!”
It’s a whole lot easier to say this than go into all the details.
When I think of all that encompasses our lives as a Mama, I think the same words pretty much sum up our job title.
“It has its highs and lows, but we wouldn’t trade our time there for anything!”
If you would like a little extra something special to give your own mama or mama-mentor in your life, maybe print this off and place it in a frame or card for her?
Mama: Such a simple word for such a busy calling.
Much love to all the mamas, aunts, friends, and mentors out there who freely and generously invest in others.
Enjoy your day, friends!
Happy New Year friends!
My babes are still on Christmas vacation, so we’ve been doing lots of family type stuff. However, one thing I’ve enjoyed doing solo is perusing one of my Christmas gifts from the kids and David: the Chronicles of Downton Abbey. While it talks about the show, it also gives historical context for the show’s characters and what it was like to live in England before and after World War I. Sure, parts of the book read like an upscale People magazine, but since I’m not above reading People magazine, I don’t mind.
One thing I’ve learned is Downton Abbey or not, the society of 1920 England did not celebrate second chances. If you made a grievous mistake, that mistake could mark you for life. Wealthy people had more resources to hide sins, but even they couldn’t always escape ruined reputations. Fresh starts were as easy to grasp as the wind.
So when I unwrap my new calendar and hang it up, I am thankful for a big fat fresh new start in a fresh new year. But honestly, we don’t need a January for a fresh start. We can have ourselves the same new day on March 9th or October 16th as on January 1st or January 2nd. His mercies are new each morning.
Below are some serious and not-so-serious ways I’m inviting a fresh start into my heart and home. Maybe they will encourage you, too?
13 Ways to Get a Fresh Start in 2013
1. Buy a new journal with good, stiff pages. Use it.
2. Count and record all the ways God loves you.
3. Invest in “The Do What You Can” Plan ebook by the world’s bona fide best cheerleader, Holley Gerth.
4. Give yourself time. Fresh starts are about quality, not quantity.
6. Walk through a fear and do something amazing.
7. Uncross your arms and wrap them around somebody.
8. Buy flowers for yourself.
9. Write a letter, send a card.
10. See how a changed heart can lead to a changed life.
11. Clean out a closet {oh, how mine is beyond desperate}.
12. Grab your camera or a loved one {or both} and take a walk.
13. Remember God gives unlimited do-overs and gets the final say.
I love you, friends. May 2013 be good to us all!
What are some ways you’re inviting a fresh start this New Year?
This post is part of a series by Holley Gerth and myself entitled All Things Possible Christmas. You can read more about it here and visit Holley’s place tomorrow for the conclusion.
I imagine how the Christmas story would read if Mary and Joseph were two professionals with PhD’s on their walls rather than two poor teenagers.
We don’t know exactly what Mary was doing when Gabriel delivered the message that she would deliver the Son, but we can assume it wasn’t anything that would have made the Nazareth newspapers.
Joseph was sleeping when God sent an angel to explain the details of Mary’s pregnancy in a dream.
I imagine how the Christmas story would read if God chose Bethlehem celebrities – maybe the Taylor Swift or Brad Pitt of their day – to first hear the news of Jesus’ birth. Instead, He chose shepherds tending flocks in fields, ordinary folks doing ordinary business.
With one hand, God reaches down from heaven and pulls extraordinary from the ordinary. And with the other He tosses up one illuminating star that leads kings to a stable.
From the moment of Jesus’ conception, God turned the ways of the world upside down. He brings the small to big places and takes the big to small places.
From the moment of Jesus’ conception, God made His name Emmanuel – God with us – very real.
Every year Emmanuel means something different. Life peels back more layers and we’re left standing raw until they heal. But God coming down to this gritty, dusty, land of the dying makes every difference in our hope for living. He is with us. He is in us. He is here. ~Emily P. Freeman
Emmanuel means inn doors of the heart aren’t slammed shut, but opened wide with welcome.
Emmanuel means miracles happen in the quiet of our ordinary days.
Emmanuel means our souls have worth.
Emmanuel means all things are possible.
But sometimes I forget all this, so I need reminding in my heart and home. Today, I am giving away two favorite things that do just that. I adore this pendant necklace from Lisa Leonard! If you win, you may choose this “He calls the stars by name” necklace or another single piece from Lisa’s faith collection at DaySpring. Not only are they swoony-pretty, but they match everything and are made of pewter. So lovely! {And just FYI~all Lisa’s jewelry is now 25% off at DaySpring.}
{photos from be small studios}
And have you met the lovely Annie Barnett of be small studios? Not only is Annie a beautiful soul herself, but her clean, classic, and bit-of-whimsy artwork is just glorious. {Annie also designed the picture above for this Christmas series!} If you win, you may choose any one of the Christmas prints above or another from her darling line.
To enter, all you have to do is like both Holley’s facebook page and my own in the handy Rafflecopter tool at the end of the post. By doing so you will automatically be entered to win both items. If you have already “liked” our pages, you will still be allowed to enter the giveaway, just follow the prompts in Rafflecopter. You will need to be signed into your Facebook account for it to work. One winner will be chosen for both prizes.
Other Fresh Air Reads
