Simplifying… me

First, I just want to commend and acknowledge the working moms out there.  I have always had the utmost respect for you and all that you do, but now that I am working (part time, mind you), that respect has doubled…no…tripled!  How you do it all, I don’t know.  You are the true super heros, [...]

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Sitting at my aunt’s dining room table, enjoying the company of family and good food, we were suddenly jolted from our adult conversation by shrieks and squeals coming from above.  Five little second cousins, and one baby cousin who was trying to take a power nap, were getting their wild things on.  We heard a lot of giggling, a few thuds here and there, and several [...]

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It has been raining for days weeks months out here in the Northwest. It’s almost been more than this poor African girl can handle. Unmotivated to do anything but sit around the house looking like a “shlumpadinka”, I was beginning to wonder if we would ever see the sun again.  And then, gloriously, vitamin D [...]

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Friday’s Free Advice: “The Best Summer Ever” Challenge.
 
Last month, on Mother’s Day, our church was invited to participate in a “Random Acts of Kindness” challenge.  Square, orange touch cards with “Smile!  You’ve Just Been Tagged! – Do something nice for someone.  Leave this card behind and extend God’s love again!” were handed out, and left in [...]

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I’ll bet you didn’t know that I’m a super hero.  Are you gasping from surprise?  This is new to me, too, as I was just informed by Jackson today- right after I killed a spider and flushed it down the toilet- that I am a super hero.  I can wield a mean wad of toilet [...]

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Sydney handed me a brown paper sack on Friday afternoon.  Inside was a collection of Mother’s day projects she had been working on in her first grade classroom over the course of several weeks.  I unfolded a piece of composition paper where she had written something about me with a lovely illustration of the two [...]

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Exasperated, I sat down, put my head in my hands and whispered a quick prayer for strength and patience.  The following is the conversation that ensued:
 
Me:  “Oh, Jesus.  I need you.”
 
Jackson:  “Mommy, Jesus not here.”
 
Me:  “Yes, He is.”
 
Jackson:  “No, Mommy.  He’s not here.”
 
Me:  “Then, where is He?”
 
Jackson:  “He’s at His home.”
 
Me:  “Where’s Jesus’ home?”  (Here’s [...]

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From the depths of sweet slumber I felt a tap, tap, tap on my shoulder.  Turning over and blinking my eyes, Sydney’s face came into focus.  She had a bad dream.  I looked at the clock.  Not quite 4am.
 
Rolling out of bed (my warm and cozy little nest), I took Sydney’s hand and, in a state [...]

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Our deep early morning conversation began like this:
 
Sydney: “Mom, do you remember when I was a little girl?  You know…when I was five years old?”
 
Me: “Why, yes I do.” because that was all of six months ago.  (I know I’ve been forgetting a lot of things since I became a mom of three, but a [...]

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This morning as I was driving Sydney to school, a huge gust of wind came rushing through; blowing leaves and dirt and bending tender tree branches low to the ground.  Sydney was impressed.  Even the large and sinewy evergreens waved to us as we listened to the rustle and howl.  Finally, once the flurry subsided, [...]

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