Your Daily Disconnect

Not too long ago, my youngest daughter got her hand stuck in the metal eyelet handle of one of those collapsible storage bins that help keep shelves organized, pictured below. (And yes , I had to look up what that handle opening was called so that I wouldn't sound silly calling it what I normally call it — which happens to be "the metal handle opening thingy". I know, silly .) 

Sore losers.  You know, those people who just can't stand losing.

When I was in school, I always disliked history and learning information about other countries because I never understood how learning all of those seemingly random facts would ever really help me in life. But it's funny because the older I've gotten, the more I've actually grown to love learning about history and world culture.

Remember Me? I'm Jesus. The Son of God. Your Creator and Your Savior.

So, we’ve made it to the final portion of our journey in unpacking the gracious invitation Jesus gives us in  Mark 6:31  – “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.”  We’ve talked about what it means to truly disconnect from  everyone  and  everything  so that we can connect to our heavenly Father. We’ve talked about the excitement we should have at the thought of being asked to accompany our Lord and Savior anywhere He asks us to go.  We’ve talked about the importance of getting alone with God and the importance of making sure that when we  do  get alone with Him, we’re  really  alone and not distracted by the noises and voices that can fill our heads and hearts on a daily basis. And in this post, we’re going to talk about true biblical  rest .

Remember how I said in the previous post that most people struggle with spending time alone? Well, there’s another thing that most people I know struggle with: silence.

By yourself. Alone. On your own. Having no one else with you . This is the next concept I’d like to delve into a little more deeply from Mark 6:31. 

“Come with me.”  These are words that can incite a variety of different emotions in us, depending on the person saying them, aren’t they? 

Disconnect .   I’m sure most of you have heard this word before and have a pretty good understanding of what it means, but just in case anyone needs a reminder, I took it upon myself to look it up for you. (You don’t have to thank me, it was nothing.  Really . But, you’re welcome!)

So, if you've been reading my blog over the past few months, I want to thank you for taking the time to read the messages God has put on my heart to share with you! I've really grown to enjoy writing and putting into words the ways God speaks to me through my everyday circumstances and experiences.

There I was, sitting in the parking lot of a crowded shopping center, eating a drive-thru meal with my then 4-year-old daughter (aka the only one in my new daily routine who  actually  knew my name), when I heard  it . A faint whisper from the God of the universe. A long-awaited and  much needed  word from my Creator.  “ Disconnect. ”

So, we’ve been in our house for a little over 3 months now and slowly, but surely, our projects have dwindled down. From painting to flooring to backsplash to fixtures — our house has had quite the makeover. It’s finally starting to feel like home! (And if we never see another paintbrush again, I think it’d still be too soon!)

I recently bought a ton of top soil (aka really good dirt — as opposed to  clay,  which is what they call dirt around here) to spread out in my front yard. Top soil is packed with nutrients and it gives grass a good foundation for healthy roots and helps it to grow in thicker. I’ve used a lot of it over the years and it has helped turn our yard around completely, from a weed-covered mess into a beautiful and healthy lawn.

One morning last week, as I was getting ready to put down some fertilizer and water our grass, I spotted a little box turtle, hanging out in one of our plant beds.  

My husband and I have been doing a lot of home improvement projects around the house lately and one of those projects has been installing new flooring in the bathrooms and kitchen. Anytime we install new flooring, our family has this tradition of writing messages on the floor that we’re covering up, with the hope that our home’s next owners will one day uncover our messages, if they decide to redo the floors.

I was talking with my 12 year old daughter recently about one of her friends that she met at her new school and she was telling me how different her friendship with this girl has been, compared to her previous friendships. Her new friend is a Christian, like many of her other friends have been, but this friend has been different .

So, my 4 year old daughter has always been funny about her ears.  It's been a struggle ever since I can remember trying to clean her ears out using Q-tips. She's gotten a lot better about it as she's gotten older, but she used to freak out anytime I'd stick one in her ear. 

Pressure washers are amazing machines. You hook it up to a water hose and it pressurizes the water — basically making into a lean, mean, cleaning machine!  My husband recently pressure washed our driveway and it's crazy the difference it made! So fresh. So clean. It was like a different driveway when he was finished!

I believe that one of our greatest desires as human beings is the desire to be loved — to feel wanted and accepted and cared about. It’s a desire we’re born with and one that manifests itself in early childhood. This truth became pretty evident to me not too long ago, as I was interacting with my 4 year old daughter one day. I’ve always made it a point to tell my children that I love them often, so that it’s not something they ever have to question or wonder about — which is why it came as a complete shock to me when I told my youngest daughter that I loved her and her response was, “Are you sure ?”

One of my all-time favorite movies growing up was the Disney movie, Aladdin . There’s a scene in that movie where the antagonist of the movie, Jafar, is disguised as an old prisoner and is trying to persuade the hero of the movie, Aladdin, to help him find a magic lamp.

Hunger and thirst . Two of the natural, God-given sensations that every living being experiences on a daily basis.  Some experience them more often and at a higher intensity than others, depending on the situation, but they're sensations that God created in each one of us.

My youngest daughter and I have a bedtime routine that we go through on most nights where I’ll read her a little book, say a little prayer, sing a little song, and tuck her into bed with a hug and a kiss. She loves routines and doing things by the book, so anytime I try to skip a step in our bedtime routine to speed up the process, she promptly informs me of my misstep and I have to play it off like I “forgot” — and then finish said step so that we can all get to bed at a decent hour!

The weather has finally warmed up enough for me to get outside and do one of my favorite springtime activities: working in the yard and getting things spruced up out there — a “spring cleaning” for the yard, if you will. Doing yard work has always been a stress-reliever for me and somewhat therapeutic, so I've never viewed it as a chore, as some people might.

 As a mother of two, one of the most interesting things I've come to experience is how different my girls are in almost every way.  My oldest has always been a sweet, easy-going girl while my youngest was born with an attitude and has always wanted things a certain way —  her way.

When we first considered buying our home, one of the things that we liked about it was the fact that it had a beautifully landscaped backyard. As we’ve officially entered spring, we’ve begun to see the various bushes and trees scattered about back there start to blossom and bloom.  Not being too big into gardening, I couldn’t tell what type of plants they were when we first bought the house and I hadn’t really taken the time to examine what all we had back there up close. It looked nice from a distance and that was good enough for me!

Salty . This word has apparently gained a new meaning over the past year or so and has become a pretty popular term amongst the younger crowd. If you’re like me and above a certain age, being “salty” has always described the taste of certain food items — potato chips, pickles, pretzels, soy sauce, sunflower seeds, etc. These are the things that come to mind when I think of that word. As you can imagine, hearing someone use the word “salty” when referring to a person who is upset or angry about something kind of caught me off guard and had me scratching my head! You see, I’m a salt lover. I always salt my food way more than anyone else in my family and if anyone needs the salt around the dinner table, 9 times out of 10, all they have to do is check in my direction and the salt shaker is sure to be close by! Salt is good to me, so it’s hard to view it as a negative thing.  But alas, kids these days are always coming up with new meanings for words that have ...

So, in case you haven’t noticed yet, I really love North Carolina! I have seen so many new things and I can’t help but feel closer to the Lord up here. My spirit is constantly being stirred as we’re surrounded by so many of God's beautiful creations. Besides the beautiful landscapes, there's something else that always seems to bring a smile to my face: animals. From the sheep, cows, and horses grazing out in pastures to the beautiful cardinals and robins that seem to be everywhere up here, we don't have to go very far to be in the presence of some type of animal that we're not used to being around!

One of the things I love about living in North Carolina are all the little country roads we have to travel down in order to get to many of the towns around our area. We’ve experienced the most beautiful and serene scenery, as we’ve traversed all of these roads — scenery worthy of a post card photo, no doubt!  But there’s this one little country road that I’ve been down many times now, and every time I drive down it, something on this road always catches my eye. 

As many of you know, we are in the process of buying a house. And as many of you may have experienced yourselves, buying a house is a lot of work. From finding the right house, to making the offer, to signing your name about a million times throughout the entire process — and everything else in between — making the decision to purchase a home takes a lot of time and effort. It takes a lot of thought and a lot of planning.

Ever since my youngest daughter was a baby, she's always found comfort at the grasp of my hand. It's been somewhat of a security blanket for her, if you will. Most babies and toddlers find comfort in actual blankets. They find comfort in a favorite teddy bear or some other type of stuffed animal — or in an object that has been deemed important by them. But not my youngest. No, the thing that has comforted her most over the duration of her 6 years of life is my left hand. Yes, you read that right. My left hand.

As a wife and a mother of 2, there’s one question that I hear more often than any other question in the world. A question that I get asked daily by at least one of my family members — if not all of them! Can you guess what that question is? If not, let me enlighten you! It’s: “Have you seen ______ ?” You can fill in the blank with pretty much anything and everything and chances are, I’ve probably been asked if I’ve seen it! “Have you seen my glasses?” “Have you seen my homework?” “Have you seen my keys?” “Have you seen my toy?” “Have you seen the remote?” “Have you seen my favorite shirt, my other shoe, my imaginary dog, my purple sock, my...” — well, you get the picture! 

My family and I went shopping together not too long ago and as we usually end up doing, my husband went in one direction to pick up a few things that he needed, while the girls and I went in the opposite direction in search of things that are apparently too boring for men to shop for (basically, anything other than tools, electronics, and the clearance section)! After the girls and I finished grabbing the things we needed, we waited for my husband to come and meet us. While we were standing around, observing the various people walking past us, there was a man that caught both mine and my daughter’s eye. We didn’t get a glimpse of this man’s face, but were only able to see him from behind.

Over the past 33 years, I would say that the chore I’ve done the most in my life would have to be washing dishes. Granted, the majority of my dish-washing career has been made a little easier by this amazing invention called the dishwasher, I’ve still used my fair share of dishwashing liquid and scrubbed many a dish. On Thanksgiving Day a few years back, after we had eaten a meal with the family and all that was left was a big pile of dirty dishes and pans galore of leftover food, the ladies got to work cleaning while the men vegged out on the couch — talking about their jobs, tools, sports, and a myriad of other topics that men talk about.

As a mom, one of the first things I've tried to teach my children is the importance of saying "thank you". I don't have to remind my 12 year old to say "thank you" as much these days, because she's finally reached the point in her life where it comes pretty naturally. But it didn't always come so easily. It took a lot of reminding and consistency in cultivating a spirit of thankfulness in her over the years! When people have given her gifts, I'd tell her to say "thank you". When someone did something nice for her, I'd ask her if she thanked them. When someone gave her a compliment, I made sure to remind her to thank that person. She's caught on and does great with this now, although she still needs to be reminded to say it every now and then. I'm still in the process of teaching my 4 year old this concept, but she does pretty well with it for the most part! She still needs to be cued a lot of the time, but I know that t...

Something I've noticed about most of the houses here in North Carolina is that the majority of them are 2 story homes. This has made our house hunting experience interesting, considering we have a 4 year-old wild child, I mean .. daughter. We've gone to look at several different homes over the past few weeks and all of them have had stairs. Having an active child, stairs have always made me nervous! Ever since my youngest learned how to walk, I've made it a point to always go down stairs with her slowly, taking one step at a time so that her little mind didn't get out ahead of her feet, causing her to go tumbling down.

My husband and I were at our storage unit yesterday, loading up a small utility trailer that he had just bought with a some things we'll be taking to our new house, once we close on it in less than 2 weeks. Since we're living in an apartment complex, there's really nowhere for us to store this trailer, so we thought the best option would be to store it inside of our storage unit. The storage unit is fairly large and it's an outside unit, so keeping a utility trailer inside of it isn't really as strange as it sounds! (Ok, I know it's a little strange, but sometimes you just do what ya gotta do!) 

"Be quiet." "Be still." "Stop." Words I have to tell my very active 4 year old daughter multiple times a day. Ever since she was in my belly, she has always been a big ball of energy! Always moving. Always on the go. Always into something. The way I can tell she's sick or that something is wrong is when she's actually calm . So when I tell her that it's time to "quiet down", to "be still", or to "stop", she always looks at me like I'm crushing her dreams! Who has time to be quiet, to be still, and to stop when there are so many fun things to explore and so much mischief to get into? Apparently, not my 4 year old! 

Ok, so, I've done it. I've gone off the deep end. I've taken the plunge. I started... a blog! (*gasp*) I know this may not sound like big deal to most people, but I'm totally stepping out of my comfort zone, following the Lord's lead in this. When He put it on my heart to start blogging, I had the conversation with Him that most people who feel like they've heard God wrong have. You know, the one that goes kind of like this: