It looks like I won't be completing my notebook for the challenge. I'm a little disappointed with myself, but at least it got me drawing again. I can say it helped waken my desire to create again. Maybe I will continue working on it and magically have it done before the January 15 postal deadline. Maybe not.
*shrug* I can't say I tried all that hard. When is it ever a good time to do this kind of thing? Are my days of being able to sit down and finish a project (or start one for that matter) over? I don't seem to have time to sew, yet have a room full of fabrics and patterns and ideas in sketchbooks. I don't have time to paint, but have buckets of bottles, cups of brushes and stacks of canvas. I need to create! This is something that I long for but never seem to have time to do.
I drag my kids everywhere with me - the doctor, the store, the theater. Perhaps there will come a day when my office will be organized and I can bring my children in with me. The sketchbook will be waiting for me.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Giving
Last week, after my last post, I pulled out the World Vision Catalog that has been sitting on my desk for.. what seems like months, but is probably only 1. I reminded each child that we were not going to be celebrating Christmas like we have before. I encouraged each one to pick out gifts for another child, somewhere across the world, who goes without most everything that our family has. Some kids live in huts, some work all day for pennies. Some are orphaned or are living with sick and dying family members, maybe their mother or their little brother. My 3 oldest boys looked through the catalog for a few minutes and then they started calling out things they wanted to get for other kids. "Soccer balls so they can have fun!" "Clean water, mom. That's what I want to give" It was really moving to hear my children, who are like so many of us and think about themselves 99% of the time, choosing to give instead of have more.
Our little order form is filled out and waiting for me to glean the money from savings accounts and pay checks over the next weeks. My hope burgeoned that this year, we would be the light to someone else, showing them who Messiah is by giving instead of asking, yet again, for more. I slipped the form under my laptop, waiting for a money order or a moment to order online. I was so excited to have my children on board with refocusing our holiday!
And then the little whispers of doubt started to creep in..... Am I cheating my kids? Will they forgive me when Christmas comes without presents for them? Should I get them one thing? Should I only take the first step this year, phasing out Christmas in exchange for Hanukkah? I didn't see how I could honor God by giving to His son, and still pursue all the worldy practices of this holiday.
And then an answer to the ache in my heart, my friend shared a post from another family that has been doing the same thing, giving instead of getting, for 10 years now! I cried for quite a while after reading this post. It was a comfort and an affirmation to me.
As we approach Hanukkah, I prepare myself for some big teaching moments. I don't plan to give our children lavish gifts each day of the feast, but instead, we will have lessons centered on a theme for the day. Some days, they will receive a gift; other days, they will give a gift or perform an act of charity. Keep praying for us, that each one of us in our family will be transformed into Messiah's image during this season.
Our little order form is filled out and waiting for me to glean the money from savings accounts and pay checks over the next weeks. My hope burgeoned that this year, we would be the light to someone else, showing them who Messiah is by giving instead of asking, yet again, for more. I slipped the form under my laptop, waiting for a money order or a moment to order online. I was so excited to have my children on board with refocusing our holiday!
And then the little whispers of doubt started to creep in..... Am I cheating my kids? Will they forgive me when Christmas comes without presents for them? Should I get them one thing? Should I only take the first step this year, phasing out Christmas in exchange for Hanukkah? I didn't see how I could honor God by giving to His son, and still pursue all the worldy practices of this holiday.
And then an answer to the ache in my heart, my friend shared a post from another family that has been doing the same thing, giving instead of getting, for 10 years now! I cried for quite a while after reading this post. It was a comfort and an affirmation to me.
As we approach Hanukkah, I prepare myself for some big teaching moments. I don't plan to give our children lavish gifts each day of the feast, but instead, we will have lessons centered on a theme for the day. Some days, they will receive a gift; other days, they will give a gift or perform an act of charity. Keep praying for us, that each one of us in our family will be transformed into Messiah's image during this season.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Considering coverings
I just started wearing a head covering yesterday. I've been considering it for a while, over a year now, but it took a friend of mine admitting that she was considering wearing them more often for me to decide to do it too. It's always easier to do something if you're not alone, isn't it?
My friend traveled to Israel recently for the first time, where she wore head coverings out of respect for the orthodox Jews. She looks wonderful in them! There is a part of wearing a head scarf or wrap that makes most of us "Americans" think that the woman wearing it as part of her culture or religious beliefs must be oppressed. I think we may have it wrong.
Over the past week, while considering how to go about covering my hair, I realized that wearing a head scarf has the potential to really bless us as women! I got excited about it! The first blessing comes from honoring our husbands (and other men around us); covering our hair sets that part of our physical bodies apart only for our husbands to admire, making it a treasure to him and giving him more opportunity to feel honored and to compliment us when we are alone together. What a wonderful way to tell our husbands that we prize them above all others and will reserve our physical appearance for them. By covering our hair in public, we also potentially remove part of the temptation for other men to fall into adultery! *I'm not saying that this last reason is my reason, but one that I have come to consider as a positive to wearing a head covering* Sure, wearing a head covering in our culture can draw attention as well, but what a unique way to share our faith with the world.
A second and very personal blessing comes as we set ourselves apart from what the world finds to be beautiful and instead submit our vanity and desire to be called beautiful aside. We trade the standard of the world for the standard of the Lord, leaving our superficial primping behind for hopefully something deeper. Imagine if you could leave off coloring or styling your hair for public viewing and instead plan for the evening, when you will unbraid your hair for your beloved! Which one is most rewarding?
I know that there are probably many more things to consider to the act of covering my hair, but these are the focus of my choice at the moment. I'm not sure if it will last or not, I leave that all up to my husband. He would never ask me to do something like this, but once I explained that this was for him, he admitted that he thought it was romantic and would make him feel special :)
The first day that I came home with a scarf covering my hair, he told me I looked like a cancer patient! I guess we both have some adjusting to do and I will be experimenting with tying methods that compliment me better. I have a desire to seek out the history of head coverings, since it has not been taught to us "new believers". I encourage you to do the same, if you desire. God bless!
My friend traveled to Israel recently for the first time, where she wore head coverings out of respect for the orthodox Jews. She looks wonderful in them! There is a part of wearing a head scarf or wrap that makes most of us "Americans" think that the woman wearing it as part of her culture or religious beliefs must be oppressed. I think we may have it wrong.
Over the past week, while considering how to go about covering my hair, I realized that wearing a head scarf has the potential to really bless us as women! I got excited about it! The first blessing comes from honoring our husbands (and other men around us); covering our hair sets that part of our physical bodies apart only for our husbands to admire, making it a treasure to him and giving him more opportunity to feel honored and to compliment us when we are alone together. What a wonderful way to tell our husbands that we prize them above all others and will reserve our physical appearance for them. By covering our hair in public, we also potentially remove part of the temptation for other men to fall into adultery! *I'm not saying that this last reason is my reason, but one that I have come to consider as a positive to wearing a head covering* Sure, wearing a head covering in our culture can draw attention as well, but what a unique way to share our faith with the world.
A second and very personal blessing comes as we set ourselves apart from what the world finds to be beautiful and instead submit our vanity and desire to be called beautiful aside. We trade the standard of the world for the standard of the Lord, leaving our superficial primping behind for hopefully something deeper. Imagine if you could leave off coloring or styling your hair for public viewing and instead plan for the evening, when you will unbraid your hair for your beloved! Which one is most rewarding?
I know that there are probably many more things to consider to the act of covering my hair, but these are the focus of my choice at the moment. I'm not sure if it will last or not, I leave that all up to my husband. He would never ask me to do something like this, but once I explained that this was for him, he admitted that he thought it was romantic and would make him feel special :)
The first day that I came home with a scarf covering my hair, he told me I looked like a cancer patient! I guess we both have some adjusting to do and I will be experimenting with tying methods that compliment me better. I have a desire to seek out the history of head coverings, since it has not been taught to us "new believers". I encourage you to do the same, if you desire. God bless!
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