Titus 2:11-13

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus."

Thursday, May 20, 2010

A Time of Refreshing

It's been awhile!  Despite my recent absence from Blogland, I can assure you that life is going on here in Mommyland. :-)  In a word, this past month has been for me a time of refreshing--just what I have been needing....

Since writing my Self Reflecting post and reading the many heartfelt and encouraging comments (including this one from Michelle at She Looketh Well) I received on it, I feel that I've made some strides towards altering my expectations for myself.  Instead of trying to live up to my idea of the perfect woman (and failing), I am learning to ease up on myself a bit.  What a relief it has been to realize that 1) I am not alone as I go through this "tired Mommy" season and 2) I don't need to feel guilty for not being "better" at what I do (or don't do)!

On April 23rd and 24th my mom and I attended a women's retreat at our church.  The theme for the weekend was "Living With a Forever Focus."  Considering that the name of this website is Eternal Outlook, this concept of living with an eternal perspective is obviously one I try to live by; but sometimes--and especially lately--I let life get in the way of living, and my focus turns off the forever and onto the temporal.  I was so blessed by and thankful for the reminder to set my eyes on eternity--to really focus on what I'm living for!

After that weekend was over, my mom stayed with us through the whole next week and helped me prepare for our first ever garage sale.  While the work itself wasn't too refreshing, the time I got to spend with my mom (and the getting rid of stuff!) was.  And to top it off, the kids and I went back home to my parents' the following week and had a wonderful time.  I got to watch the kids bond with Grandma and Grandpa, visit some extended family, eat Mom's good home cooking, take a nap, relax.... All of that was wonderful, but the highlight for me personally was probably the day we flew kites.  That may sound silly coming from this 27-year old woman, I know; but there was something about it that I just needed.  After Mom and the kids went back inside, I lingered there in the stubble field by myself and flew Abel's blue dinosaur kite.  I felt the warm sun and the gentle breeze on my skin; I listened to the birds singing sweetly; and I just felt good.

We've been back home for about a week now, and the time of refreshing has continued:  time spent in the Word, time spent reading to the kids, time spent just enjoying my husband, time spent playing Nintendo Wii (our post-garage sale/pre-anniversary purchase!) as a family.... God is supplying me with just what I need for each day.  I am so thankful--and refreshed--to know that He is with me here in Mommyland (and that one day I will be with Him in Heaven!).

3 comments:

Stephanie said...

What a blessing to spend that time with your family. I missed your post about self-reflecting, but wow do I understand your words...completely. I have been struggling with what my priorities are lately and feeling overwhelmed that there aren't enough hours in the day to do what I want to and feeling like I'm not doing the best I can do and just plain exhausted with being a mom some days...but, I am reminded of the gifts He has given me and I don't want to ever take them for granted. Since my grandfather passed away, I've been focused on enjoying and treasuring every moment with my children. I've also been trying really hard to do devotions in the mornings before both my children wake up and, when I do (which has been more often because I'm getting into the habit of it and realized how much I NEED it) I am so blessed by His words and can meditate on them throughout the day. Today, these are the words He spoke to my heart - Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10) I pray these words would touch your heart today too.

Terry & Tammy said...

The Lord really knows what we need. You say our two weeks spent together was a time of refreshing for you. Well, me too. Since our time together I'm also refreshed and focused. Thank you for the invite to the conference and the many days spent after. I throughly enjoyed every minute. I love you so much.

Travis said...

I'm happy for you honey! Keep blogging :-)

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