Joyful Mothering

When You Need Fresh Vision

May 17, 2012 By Christin Leave a Comment

Sometimes life just takes off and you run, run, run, and before you know it your vision has been blurred by the fast pace. That’s where I’ve been the last few weeks. With the passing of my father in law and traveling and everything that goes along with mourning the loss of someone you love, the days have just come and go without much intention of living.

I need fresh vision; for my home, for my homeschool, for my work. I use the term work lightly since it’s more like a hobby I love, and get paid for.

Then a dream that was planted into our hearts is beginning to take root. I have never mentioned it here because I didn’t know everything for certain. I was waiting on God and the right timing. He has placed the dream there and has begun paving the way to it’s reality.

Last week it still seemed so far off. But this week, it’s so within reach we can almost touch it. God is doing some amazing things! He has planted a deep desire in us to adopt a child out of poverty and give them a family. We are looking at a country in Africa and are currently researching (yet now narrowing) just the right agency.

Isn’t this crazy amazing! You want to talk about God-sized dreams?!

So, my vision needs some revamping. Or an overhaul, or something.

Homeschooling has been kind of lacking and I would really like to take that up a notch (or three). We are year round homeschoolers–not necessarily by choice, but by life circumstances. I don’t mind too much. Now with adding the adoption process into the mix, it puts a new spin on our lives!

I need to figure out how to make my curriculum work for me. It seemed to work well in the first few years, but now it seems choppy to me. I don’t know why. It’s well put together, but sometimes it’s hard to find the titles I need for the week’s reading, so much of the reading doesn’t get accomplished. There must be a way to fill these gaps.

I don’t know how you all feel about me sharing my adoption journey here. My goal would be to help someone in the future who needed some detailed information on the international adoption process. I know when I was hunting for information and I came across Kim VanBrunt’s blog, I was so incredibly grateful that she shared her experience. I sat down and read it all in one sitting.

I’m thinking it would only be once or twice a month. Would that be OK, if I took you on this journey with me? I could really use your prayers through this as I know I cannot do it alone.

Do you have a need for fresh vision today? I encourage you to take the leap!!

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Filed Under: Adoption

My Bad Habit

May 16, 2012 By Christin 12 Comments

I seem to have a nasty habit that I’ve been carrying with me for at least 10 years now. The earliest memory I have dates back to right before I got pregnant with my first child.

It was then I decided I wanted to learn how to play the guitar; acoustic, to be more specific. My mother in law loaned me one she had laying around, I picked up a beginner’s guide and set to work. Within a month or two, I became pregnant and immediately gave up the guitar to put all my focus on my pregnancy and the new life growing inside me.

I never did pick it back up again.

Before I got pregnant with my fourth child, I took up running. Then I quit that, too. I attempted to start up again, but it quickly dissolved.

Two years ago, I joined the Bible in 90 Days challenge, and I quit in Acts. (Isn’t that terrible?! Finally get to the “easy” reading and I stopped)!

I’m a quitter. There’s no way to sugar coat it. I don’t follow through on much of anything. I rarely finish books. I never finish Bible studies. I begin things with a bang, but they quickly fizzle out. This is a terrible habit to have!

There is so much noise around and rather than finish what I’ve started, I want to hurry up and move on to the next thing.

Do you ever get like that?

I never fully experience what I’ve set out to do because I don’t finish what I’ve started. It’s a terrible trend to set in front of my children, too. In fact, my daughter (9) has picked up on this habit and is following in my footsteps. Yikes!

So what can be done to buck this trend?

Remain consistent. Do whatever it is I set out to do every single day. If I allow any gaps, my interest begins to wane.
Don’t take on new projects. Stick to one thing at a time and do it well.
Reward yourself at the end. Sometimes we need a little incentive to keep us moving forward.

Once upon a time I had another blog called, “Journey to a Gracious Woman“. Yea. I quit that, too. But it’s a good thing I did, because Joyful Mothering wouldn’t exist.

Writing has been the one thing these past 2 years that I have kept at. Oh, I did start an eBook and quit that. Maybe I should pick that up again?

This bad habit won’t push me beyond my limits, and I need to be stretched. It’s the only way I’ll grow.

So today’s the day. It’s the day I quit quitting. The first thing I’m going to do is finish my eBook.

What have you started that you’ve never finished?

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Filed Under: Life

Does Your Hair Need Flexibility?

May 15, 2012 By Christin Leave a Comment

I have searched the stores for unique hair clips that would hold my hair and have not found anything. I have rather long hair that’s somewhat thick.

Then I find Lilla Rose. They don’t just sell hair clips; they sell hair jewelry. These are the most beautiful hair pieces I’ve ever seen.

Lilla Rose has been in the hair goods business since 1992 and has produced some of the loveliest hair products throughout the years.

Meet Jasmine Mansfield. Jasmine recently became a Lilla Rose Independent Consultant to help supplement her husband’s income while staying home with their children. She is my consultant and I just adore her! Maybe some of you know her from her blog, Far Above Rubies.

The Flexi Hair-Clip is Lilla Rose’s most unique, comfortable, elegant, and functional hair piece. Yes, it will work in your hair! Holds baby fine and thick hair!

You can browse Jasmine’s website and view the style and sizing videos for great information on which Flexi-Clip is right for you.

There are seven (7) different sizes and many styles to choose from. The center of the Flexi-Clip is made out of music wire which allows it to bend or flex with your hair. The pin has three notches giving you more flexibility and holding the Flexi in place.

Some of Jasmine’s favorites include:

The Flexi-of-the-Month is called A Mother‘s Love. The center pictures a heart with mother and child between a delicate rose.

The Flexi-of the-Month is available for a limited time only, while supplies last.

You can visit Jasmine and Lilla Rose on Facebook for more on hair jewelry and accessories and chat with her on Twitter at @FarAboveRubies3.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Jasmine at lillaroseaboverubies at gmail dot com.

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This is a sponsored post.

Filed Under: Resources & Tools

Glorifying the Mess

May 14, 2012 By Christin 11 Comments

What makes messy beautiful? It’s not being messy itself. It’s God loving us through it. That doesn’t make the messy beautiful. It makes God beautiful. And it doesn’t make the messy OK.

In the beginning of my marriage and early years of motherhood, I was intentional about my life and my relationships. I made certain to go out of my way to help my husband. I determined to at least try to be a better mom.

Somewhere down the line, though, I started reading material, be it blogs or books, that told me it was OK to be comfortable in my mess. And somewhere along the way, I believed it.

One popular message I see often is, “God loves you right where you are.” This can be misleading, because yes, God’s love is unconditional, but that doesn’t mean He wants us to remain where we are. It’s kind of like raising children. We love our children even though they are childish and immature right now. But we love them so much, we couldn’t possibly allow them to grow into adults acting like children. People tend to forget to convey the second part of the message.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 1 Corinthians 13:11

I gradually stopped trying so hard and began to let go of a life that required work–spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Instead, I ended up lazy. Any time any work was required of me, I became upset for being bothered. I remained stuck in my mess because people told me that was OK.

It’s not OK.

Recently, this way of thinking and living came to a head in my life. It hit me just how unhappy I have been remaining in my messy state. For me, it’s not a comfortable place to be. Not because I’m self-righteous. Oh no, far from it. I can be pretty hard on myself.

No, it’s because God has called me to something greater, and instead I was satisfied with complacency–yet, I wasn’t. My wheels spun, but I went nowhere. And it frustrated me to no end! I cried out to God so often, “God. What’s wrong with me?!” And God, in His great patience and mercy, just quietly waited.

He waited for me to bring my mess to Him and lay it down so I could be free to live for Him better, rather than remain in my mess and grumble about it. Because that’s what I did. It wasn’t pretty, folks.

My goal is not perfection; it’s progression. I should not remain satisfied with where I am. We are going to be messy. But we should never be content to remain there.

God compels us to keep moving forward; keep growing, keep running the race of righteousness.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Being satisfied with our mess is no different then giving up. Otherwise we would keep moving and yes, striving. Will we sometimes fall. Yes! Sometimes our lives do get a bit messy. We simply can’t remain satisfied staying there. I’m pretty sure we will be miserable. I know I was, and discerning from what I have read of others, they seem less than content with their state of mess as well. Regardless that they choose to remain there.

There is too much mediocrity out there, because it’s easy to be mediocre. I choose to refuse such a life. God has given me too much to waste it.

The Bible talks about living a life worthy of the calling He has given us (Eph. 4:1), throwing off everything that hinders, and running the race God has set before us (Heb. 12:1).

Are we to recognize our mess? Yes. Absolutely. Recognizing our need for Jesus is where humility comes in.

But don’t be content to stay there. You were meant for so much more.

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