Being sick on Easter

...isn't all bad!

Tonight's dinner

Was a bit bland looking, but tasty :)

We have...

A four legged "friend" living with us this week.

So, I've been feeling super guilty lately for not keeping up w/ the Desperate book club. I got half way thru chapter 7 three weeks ago, and haven't picked it up since. But I'm sitting here reading it and crying tears of thankfulness for/to the Lover of my soul. This chapter is exactly what I needed to read today.

Part of the reason I had put it down a few weeks ago mid-chapter was because I wasn't getting anything out it. That seems silly now, since it's so applicable today, but isn't that just like God to draw me back to it when He knew I would be ready to glean from its Truth? What a faithful and loving Savior.

So -- Chapter 7, Sacrifice in the Mundane (on Selfishness)

I can't remember if I've mentioned in past posts that each chapter begins with a portion of a letter Sarah Mae writes to Sally, and then Sally's letter in response.  A lot of them are good, but I REALLY liked Sally's response to Sarah's laments over her own selfishness.

Sally writes:

Nothing excellent is ever accomplished by being lazy or selfish. Once I got over my pity party and decided that I was willing to do whatever it takes to build excellence into my life and home, my motivation increased and my vision for what I could accomplish stretched, and as I look back, I am now amazed at my capacity to work so hard and to get so much done.  The end result is that my labor has been rewarded and I have felt the job of building something of great worth.  So develop a willing heart and become the best mom you can be by getting rid of the destructive attitude that we all have -- that of selfishness -- and decide to be an overcomer! I believe in you!

What a pep talk!  I loved that.  I so desire to "develop a willing heart."

The chapter focuses on John 15:13 - "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."  It is a call to put aside selfishness, and to serve sacrificially, especially in the lives of our children.

Sarah has some really good quotes, too:

You and I, we love our children to the core of our beings.  We would die for them.  But for some reason, we have a hard time putting away our books, or our computers, or our crafts in order to serve them, train them, encourage them, or fill their souls with life.  Every day.

Oh, man was that convicting.  There are so many times in my every day life that I view my two sweet blessings as a distraction from what I want to do.  I want so badly to flip this thinking in my head.  To view the laundry, the e-mail, the work as the thing that should be put on the back burner for my kiddos.  I love that I have seen God do exactly what Sally said could happen in my own life.  It seems that most days, when I choose to sit and build legos, read books, or go play somewhere, that He multiplies the time I do have to sit down and work.  It's like my own personal fulfillment of Malachi 3:10.  I hope I'm not taking too many liberties with that passage, but I feel like in this season, in this area of my life, He is whispering to me to test Him in this.  It's like He's saying, "Dear sweet Magen.  I'm going to care for you.  You devote your time to me.  You serve Me by serving these little ones, and I will repay.  Test me in this!"

I do, by the grace of God, succeed at this mindset every so often.  I fall into guilt sooo fast, though, when after a long day, with many successes (and many failures!) I just desire a break.  Both ladies address the need for "me time" in this chapter, but the passage that I should pin up somewhere is, "When we choose to give the best of ourselves to them, we will need a break, or we will break."  Gotta love the permission to not feel guilt!! :)

Myrick's birthday

We got to do a lot of fun things on Myrick's birthday.

For starters, he got to spend the night before his birthday with cousins. Waking up with cousins not still around after date night is always a bit disappointing for him, so this was fabulous! Plus, Aunt Jessie made cinnamon roll waffles for breakfast. Can't get much better than that!

We left their house and headed straight for the Discovery Center where we met some of his good friends Emma and Thomas for playing and lunch.

I didn't get many pictures there, but I did get a few.

After loooong naps, Myrick got to go with daddy to get us pizza before a concert with lots of friends. Fun day!

Birthday tent

Big helper

Myrick loves having grandma's dog with us this week.

My baby is 3

And putting a candle in his piping hot pizza wasn't my most brilliant idea.

Snowman!

Oh, and a snow cake too. That's normal, right? It was, after all, the snow man's birthday.

Daddy's old snow suit

Last one

They had a pretty sweet outdoors area too that I can't wait to explore more this spring and summer. Complete with tricycles too, from what I understand.

Ok, I am officially out of pictures for our one trip to the Discovery Center. I was starting to feel bad about spending so many days on this til I remembered that its my blog, and that I intend for this to be a pretty thorough picture log of our days. So, hope I didn't bore you too much. :)

While Supplies Last

Do you think Dillons will run out of eggs anytime soon? If they think they might, I wonder why they would give them away for free!

Wood working

I was very impressed by the wood working area at the Discovery Center. We probably won't be able to do it every time, since it requires 1 on 1 adult supervision. But, it was certainly a sweet daddy-son time. =)

Myrick the vet

Can you tell we loved this place? We will probably buy a membership.

Matthew

In case you were wondering, Matt was at the Discovery Center too. He was just so pleased that there were so many chairs he could climb onto himself, that his pictures are a little less eventful.

Desperate, Chapter 6

So, in case you haven't noticed, I've been blogging through this book for the last few weeks.  I'm doing it as part of a "book club" of sorts over at the blogs of the authors: Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson

In the book club, they're already done with Chapter 9, with Chapter 10 slated for Tuesday.  But, I'm not -- I'm on Chapter 6.  And, if it's ok for me to be that far behind, then it's totally ok for you to be too!  Jump on in.  I'd love to hear what you're thinking about it!!

Chapter 6 -- Lack of Training

I can totally relate with Sarah and Sally, in that I too had very little training on the how-tos of being a "keeper at home."

I have a very sweet, very loving mom.  She did so much for my brother and I growing up.  Both of my parents did.  My dad started working road construction when I was just a baby.  That meant a lot of long hours, and a lot of time spent out of town.  That also meant my mom was essentially a single mom.  (Except, of course, for the extra paychecks!)  They both worked very hard, and sacrificed a lot so that we could have a good education, complete with sports, dance and scouting.

But, one thing I didn't really know I was lacking before I got married, was the training.  I didn't know how to cook.  I often share this story about when I learned how to (or, more accurately, how NOT to) hard boil an egg.

I knew how to cook pasta.  You wait til the water is boiling, dump the pasta in, and the set a timer and drain.  Simple enough.  So, how do you hard boil an egg?  Wait for the water to boil, put the egg in, and set a timer.  Easy peasey.  In case you don't know where this is going, I'll go ahead and tell you -- the egg explodes.  :)  There, now I've trained you!  Put the egg in before the water gets hot.

I also didn't know how to clean.  My poor mom would work all day, run us around to our activities all evening, and then clean -- when?  I can't remember.  I know she did it.  But, I was very rarely apart of it.

None of this is meant to shame my parents.  In fact, if anything, it's meant to shed light on my sin.  I've spent a long time making excuses about what I've never been trained to do, instead of just availing myself of the training that is available.

And, that's exactly what Chapter 6 is about.  Sarah Mae says at one point in the chapter, "I have a will and a healthy body and mind that give me no excuse for choosing not to train and discipline my children...and myself."  Talk about summing it all up.  I'm without excuse!

That's one thing I learned from this chapter that I hope to apply to my life.

Another quote that was so good, I'm not sure where to cut it off.  I'll just give the whole thing!

Feeling condemned for not getting it all done can be an immediate source of depression for many women.  We all assume that others can do it better than we can, and also assume it must come naturally to some women.  As I have surveyed the man women I have known in every stage of life, it seems to me that housework is always an overwhelming challenge, regardless of personality.

So nice to hear!  I've definitely assumed those things, and it's glad to be reminded that I'm not alone in the struggles.  Sally goes on to give a solution.  She says, "God has taught me that I need to decide to accept the work as a normal part of life and not struggle with it."

In addition to these things -- that my children and I are teachable, and that we will always have housework with us, Sally urges us young moms to recognize that in general, relationships need to trump work.  A nice reminder that my two sweet, messy boys are not the distraction.  The laundry is the distraction.  The very central reason for doing the laundry (which does eventually need to be done), and all other housework, is to make a comfortable training training ground for my men.  When I'm not stopping to love them, to train them, to correct them -- I'm kind of missing the point.


So many good things in this chapter, and so many things I want to apply to my life this week.  Pray for me, if you think of it!  :)

Sweet Sibling Time

Myrick the chef

Myrick spent a LONG time in the cafe cooking "soup." Micah had plenty of time to get a bit creative himself.