I don't have the creativity to pull together anything short of bullet points tonight. But I feel the need to share anyway. Sorry if it's lame...
- Abraham is ten months old today!
- Keith and I went on our first all-by-ourselves date today since Abraham was born. We went out for lunch and had a few hours alone. I can't tell you how very very much we needed that. We are pathetically horrible at making dates happen, but we want to do better.
- I think I'll give up Facebook during Lent. I'm pretty sick of the lack of real interaction that I have online. True, I have acquired better relationships with people with whom I'd otherwise be completely out of touch, but I don't like that I think about status updates when I'm not even online. I don't like that I can go through a day not really ever talking to anyone (on the phone or in person) because I'm vaguely in contact with people online. It's not real and it's not satisfying, and I think I'd be healthier if I took a break from it.
- Rilla and Abraham are both hilarious. I love them so much. Abraham is really into his little red car and says "brrrmmm brrmm" when he plays with it. He tried to color with crayons tonight and was semi-successful and utterly pleased with himself. Rilla has a mind like a steel trap and is regurgitating everything we put into it. I'm feeling guilty for lack of new and inventive things so I am just reading her a lot of really good stories and playing Steve Green's "Hide 'Em In Your Heart" CDs several times a day. I am so thankful for those CDs! She pretty much has them memorized now and even though I feel like I should be the one teaching them to her, I am really glad that at least she is hearing the Word somehow.
- I am feeling totally cabin feverish and at the same time kind of in a perpetual haze and unable to make decisions. It's really weird. Not really post-partum-depressionish, because I'm happy, but I feel kind of happy and lost at the same time. Really needing to add some new stuff into our daily routines, I think, especially getting together with other moms. Winter... and staying at home for like six weeks while I was trying to get through the kids being sick and teething... officially has me down. And maybe lack of exercise and sleep has some kind of impact too.
I kind of just feel like I'm failing at absolutely everything. And I was sitting in church yesterday - actually made it to the sermon part of the service for the first time in oh, a month or two - and remembering that God can do in five minutes what might take me five years. And so I am really, really desiring His cleansing grace in my heart and home and life and relationships just now.
Every now and then I find myself in this place of complete frustration where I am just sick of myself and praying (whining) something along the lines of "ugghhh, Godddddd, I just can't DO this, I'm just not adequate!" and the clear thought comes simply to my cluttered mind that I am not supposed to be adequate. It's true, I'm NOT adequate, and I wasn't mean to be, and I never will be, because HE is adequacy. He is my Source, He is my Sufficiency, He is my Strength. He is my Adequacy.
If only I could remember that for more than a few minutes at a time.
I am so with you on so many of your points! especially true right now,
ReplyDelete"If only I could remember that for more than a few minutes at a time." I have really been struggling with discouragement and knowing that I am not doing a very good job of any of the tasks that I have been blessed with. And I have been feeling the happy and lost at the same time too.
Anyways, one thought that I have is that new and inventive things are often more for ourselves than our kids. They are blessed with seeing the same thing as new over and over again..."do that again, Daddy" "please sing it again"...you get my point.
But a few things that we do on cabin fever days are:
- blow bubbles
- fold and put away laundry (crazy I know)
- cut out paper dolls and shapes
- wash veggies or dishes (even to put a tub on the floor and wash away) We also felt wool, but you could even wash dolly clothes.
- have a picnic (real or imaginary) in a random room.
- play card games. I know that A is older than Rilla, but she started by sorting the colors into piles with help, then on her own. Now she is sorting the suits and we play matching the pairs.
- glue string on paper (or use flour paste)
- Hide and seek
Things I have thought of or got from some one:
- Drive cars and animals through a thin layer of rice.
- string ribbon through holes on paper or cardboard
- potato stamps
- build a tent under the table (the girls love playing under the table)
- hide a toy and search for it.
Love you my friend.
I love you, Jamie, and your honesty! We have all been there (or are there!) I am SO glad you have the hide-em-in-your-heart CD. We love it, too :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Missy!! Those suggestions are soooo helpful!!
ReplyDeleteSome advice I heard a few weeks ago from an amazing woman was to not focus on perfection each day, but to be very intentional on what we do each day. This means to be aware of how we spend our time and to spend our time doing what God would have us do. I love this advice because God wants us to focus our time and efforts on the good things in life and wants us to be happy. He doesn't want us to feel inadequate. He does however, want us to strive to be the best we can be. Hope this helps lift your spirits as it did for me! :)
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