Doing it for me should be good enough

One of the biggest things I struggle with eating right is when I am wanting to comfort myself. So now that Jeremy has started periodically working night shifts I find myself wanting to snack on comfort food when I am alone. Luckily there isn't much of that in the house and he takes the only working car with him so that rules out running to buy crap food. The other thing is cooking a healthy meal. I feel like putting little effort into that when it is just me and the boys and I know they are likely to turn their noses up at most of what I am serving. But tonight I made myself do it. I cooked baked lemon chicken with homemade breadcrumbs and garlic. On the side we had whole wheat couscous with wilted spinach, tomatoes and feta. YUM!! The kids weren't scarfing it down or anything but I truly enjoyed it and it was good for me. Can't say I will always feel like that kind of effort when Jeremy isn't home for dinner but I will have to try to make just me important enough more often.

Good Friend equals Good Times

My best friend Lish just came and visited with us for 6 days (the above picture is from her last visit). We had so much fun!! I always love it when she is around, we just fall back into the same place we left off the last time we saw each other. Plus, she is absolutely amazing with my kids and they love her to death. That definitely makes things easier! We mostly stayed home but we made the most of it with a sushi night, and a couple of game nights. I definitely miss having her in my life on a regular basis and wished she lived closer again. But she is great enough to make the effort to come visit us every few months so I will take what I can get. Already counting down to the next visit:)

Me Time

One of the things that I have enjoyed about Jeremy working nights has been the alone time I have gotten. Very strange at first, as it has been a couple years since I had several hours to myself several days in a row. But after the initial weirdness and wondering what to do with myself, it was quite refreshing. I have been able to allocate my time without thinking of anyone else's thoughts and needs. Not that I ended up doing anything too exciting, mostly watching girly movies and knitting (no really, I am only 27!) but it was nice because it was all mine. I don't think this is something that happens just to moms either. I think most women find themselves at a place where other people or other responsibilities come before their own wants and needs. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, however, without balance that can drive a person crazy. I think it is unhealthy to be completely self-serving but it is also unhealthy to give only to others and never take a little time for yourselvf. What good are you to everyone else if you are burnt out, stressed out, and for some resentful because of it? So next week when night shifts come around again, a part of me will groan because I will miss my husband in bed with me at night and all the help he provides with the kids. But another part of me will celebrate my very rare chance for some me time:)

How appropriate!

All you moms out there (or anyone who spends their day around children or adults who act like children) will be able to relate to this. You know when it has just been one of those days and by the end of it you feel like the screaming banshee woman? That was me today. Jeremy is working nights this weekend and it has been draining. Granted he has worked 12 hour shifts since we had the kids and I stay home with them so I am used to going it alone most the day. But the kids are all wound up and confused about the change in schedule and it is all me for every meal, naptime and bedtime. Needless to say it led to some chaos today. Mostly in the form of my tiredness mixing poorly with the kids' craziness. By the end of it all I was counting down until their bedtime, and I think they were too! And when it gets like that I for some reason always am reminded of a banshee. So I decided to look up what exactly a banshee is (yeah, I'm a mega dork:) and I thought that I have been describing myself quite accurately. Here is the definition I found: A female spirit in Gaelic folklore believed to presage, by wailing, a death in a family. When I get to that level of overloaded, my yelling very well is a warning for all around that someone is going to die soon if things don't change!! Thank goodness that each day is only 24 hours and that if we are lucky, we get the chance to start over in the morning. I think I will enjoy my quite and my coffee and try to calm myself back down from totally crazy to just semi-crazy.

Timing

God's perfect timing never ceases to amaze me. I don't know why, He has never failed to come though with his promise to see us through and it is plain to me that everything happens for a reason. But nonetheless, I find myself amazed. Jeremy started his rotating shift which puts him on night shift for the next 4 nights. He worked nights all through the beginning of our marriage and it was horrible. Mostly draining on him and my selfishness and lack of empathy didn't help. Yet this time around as we go back to working around this crazy schedule I am able to approach it in an entirely different way. And I think that is why God presented us with this at this time. Had it been 6 months ago we may not have been equipped to handle it in the way we are now. Right now I can hold onto the truth that God never gives us more than we can handle. I can also choose to see the blessing in this as he also gets a lot of weekends off which he didn't have before. Most of all I am able to see that it could be so much worse. He could work ALL nights or I could be a wife with a husband in the military who is gone for long stretches of time in dangerous situations. I could be a mom with no husband and no help. When I look at it that way I know I can feel nothing but greatful. That doesn't mean it won't be hard to fall asleep without him tonight or it won't be hard to get the kids ready for bed alone tomorrow night, but it means that it won't be enough to bring me down!


Relevant verses:
*It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8)
*Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
*Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:6-8)

End to a great week

We have been so blessed to have Jeremy home from work for 7 days in a row, one of the positive changes to his new schedule. It has truly been like a mini vacation for us. We spent time at the park, the lake, a concert and today took the kids to their first movie and then Greenbluff for the afternoon. We saw Madagascar 2 at the Garland this morning, they do their free movies for kids all summer. Nathan loved it and was amazed by the "big tv." Jordan did pretty well, although he was more fascinated by the seats than anything. Then this afternoon we headed out to Greenbluff where we stopped at a few of the farms (or orchards or whatever they are called:). The kids love Walter's Farm best because they have a play area and a giant sand box (that's actually filled with dry peas instead of sand, quite interesting) and an area with goats and stuff like that. Another great day in what's been an amazing week. After coming home from visiting my parent's in Arizona we decided we could be doing a lot more with the boys then we had been. We also realized we needed to make the most of where we are. One of the biggest lessons I have learned recently is that it doesn't matter where you live your life, it's how. So whatever your situation you need to make the most of it. We are trying to love our life where we are and are coming to realize that this is the place we are meant to be in this season of our life. How different life looks when you begin to look at from a place of joy and possibility!

Women of Word

Had the opportunity today to attend a Woman of Word class at our new church, Real Life Ministries. First of all, felt great to get out of the house all by myself and to do something just for me. All you moms know what I am talking about! It was a great time of fellowship with other women. We were discussing biblical foundations of world events. How do we know that we are closer to the end times than any other generation? We read Matthew 24:1-8 which talked about the beginnings of end times and how they compare to birth pains. What an interesting comparison. We had the chance to discuss this in groups and my group talked about just how similar these two events are. In both there is a glorious result after a painful process. There is an aspect of faith in the unknown. We experience joy, expectation, worry and anxiety all wrapped up in one. We also know that it is going to get worse before it gets better. I think that is where it is important to focus on the end result. Most importantly, it is short-lived. I always remember what my mom told me when I was pregnant with Nathan and fretting about the pain of labor. She told me that it was just one day. How true is that! No matter how painful, it would be over in a day. And when I look back on it, I can remember it wasn't my favorite thing but I don't re-experience the pain. Just like what it will be like when Jesus comes! We may suffer here on Earth, experience trials and hardships. But it is so short-lived compared to the time we will have in heaven with our creator. And we will no longer feel that pain and suffering. Definitely makes it easier to deal with whatever comes my way here when I know the end result will be so sweet. If it felt that good to meet my new little babies at the end of the labor process, I can only imagine what it will be like to meet my Jesus.

For those of you locally who are looking for a church, or who are looking for some activities to get involved with, check out their website www.reallifeministries.com