This Got My Attention

So, I admit, not only do I struggle with motivation these days, but I am also a frustrated perfectionist. Can you guess how hard it is for me to actually accomplish things in my life and how much I must drive my poor family crazy?!?

Anyway, I saw this quote in a magazine recently and it really got my attention. Maybe I'll put it on a plaque and hang it in my house.

A very large plaque.

"Better to do something

imperfectly

than to do nothing

flawlessly."

-Robert Schuller

Motivation

I was highly motivated when I started this blog way back in November. I had spent a great deal of time reading (okay, borderline obsessing over) others' blogs before I made the decision to create my own, and I had such high aspirations for it. It's not like I thought there was some "blog Fairy" that was going to write it for me...or did I? hmmm

I admit, motivation feels like a dying gene in my DNA. My intention is willing, but my body has a hard time getting there and it is starting to have a costly effect on my life and those around me.

Mornings are the worst. I am definitely not a morning person. It is not that I am really grumpy in the morning...I am just not, well, motivated. And my kids start school far too early in the morning for me to be slacking off. We are usually racing out the door, racing down the dirt road (we live in the country) and I'm telling the girls to make a run for their classes when we get to school (this week alone I had to get them tardy slips twice)! I guess I'm out of the running for mother of the year already and it's only February.

One act of motivation I have achieved (so far), is that in the last couple of months, I have begun to read my Bible in the mornings, and I am so blessed by that time spent with the Lord first thing. I admit some days I read just out of obedience, and since I'm going through a Read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, sometimes I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to be getting out of those long lists in Chronicles of who was guarding what in which month. I continue to stick with it, though, because I know it is through this time spent with Him and His Word that I have the best chance of realizing the source of my motivation - my relationship with my Savior.

I've been looking for a couple of verses from Proverbs that I can put to memory to help "motivate" me when I want to just have intentions without actions (which is still much of the time, I have to admit). I have been reading through "The Message," a more plain-spoken translation of the Bible and here is what I've found:

A lazy life is an empty life

but "early to rise" gets the job done.

-Prov. 12:26

The path of lazy people is overgrown with briers;

the diligent walk down a smooth road.

-Prov. 15:19

Put God in charge of your work,

then what you've planned will take place.

-Prov. 16:3

I enjoy Proverbs so much because it contains practical words for every area of our life, whether child, adult, parent; in gaining wisdom, dealing with our money or relationships, or seeking motivation.

So, I am trying to give myself a "Motivation Make-Over." I know it will not happen overnight, not even in a week or maybe a month. But for the sake of my family and my own sanity, I am committing myself to be less "good intentions" and more "intentional," less "idea-oriented" and more "action-oriented." This is a tall order for me and I am a little scared that now that I've put this in print I really have to do this! =)

I'll keep you "posted" on my progress....

Early Morning Surprise & Christmas Candles!

Many of you know that we have chickens. Thirteen, to be exact. Some of you don't know that we added two more to our original "family" of eleven not long ago:

Henny and...

Penny

These two lovlies are at least a month older than the rest of our brood and obviously larger. Unfortunately for them, they have also been subjected to frequent pecks and feather pulls by their merciless coop-mates.

Anyway, this morning, Craig went to let them out from the henhouse to the enclosed run, and check on their food and water, and when he came back inside, he was holding this:

The most perfect little brown egg I ever did see!

We think it must have come from Henny or Penny, because our other chickens aren't supposed to start laying until February. But let me tell you, as a newbie "crazy chicken farmer," I am giddy! After chasing chickens around the henhouse, chasing a hawk out of the henhouse, stepping in more chicken poop than I care to say, let me just say I am loving every minute of this. Go ahead, laugh at me, but besides fresh eggs, great chicken noises, and all the bugs they eat for us, they are providing our family lessons in responsibility and caring for something else and a way to spend time doing something together that is not limited by age or gender. Yep, I've gone chicken crazy!

Sweetie Pie

These two don't have names
(we only name the ones we can tell apart!)

Beaker

I am thankful for this early morning gift...I am glad my husband found the first one - he's put in the most work and this seems a just reward. Who knows when another one will appear, but what a fun surprise this early December morn.

I also started making Christmas Candles! So at my house, not only is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas, it's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas. Would you like your house to smell like Christmas, too, or give some candles as gifts? I will be updating my candle website (check the link to the right, Gingerbread Candle) with new scents and candles this week. I am afraid I am still very old school, so you will have to contact me if you actually want to buy anything, but I might do a cartwheel for you if you do or thank you about a gazillion times.

It seems a sad thing to me that we only listen to Christmas music for about a month out of the year. I think some really important songs have been written that are only heard this time of year. Here is one:

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day
walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our
sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to
make you new?
This child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight
to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm
with His hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked
where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you've kissed the
face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is
Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day
rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is
Heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is The Great I Am.

Post-Thanksgiving Thoughts

The food has been eaten and Thanksgiving is officially over for 2008, but there is still time to be thankful. We had a great time with my husband's side of the family, and I am thankful that all of them were able to be together. Remember how I told you how I am thankful for stuffing? Well...we had two kinds (hooray!) My husband made my late father-in-law's recipe (delicious), and I tried a crockpot recipe. There is a woman who is using her crockpot every day this year and has a blog to detail every recipe, success and failure. I will put a link to her blog on here shortly! It was so good, I was ready to steal away with the pot and a fork (did I mention I have a little stuffing obsession?)

I made a "Thankful Tree" and we encouraged everyone to write something they were thankful for on a leaf and hang it on the tree. It was really neat to see how blessed we all feel. Here is a picture of it:

Today, I took all the Fall decorations down and this weekend we will begin decorating for Christmas (yeah)! I love this time of year...the music, the decorations, the warm and cozy things, remembering the birth of our Savior. It is "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year."

A few more things to be thankful for:

*My husband taking care of me when I wasn't feeling well...
you're the best, honey!
*My kids' hugs
*The color green
*The smells of cinnamon, fresh cut grass, lemons,
my husband's cologne when he's wearing it, my girls after a shower
*BibleGateway.com - so I can look up those passages
I can't seem to remember the reference to!
*A Father in Heaven who created me and loves me
just the way I am, including all my flaws and quirks.
*An unexpected catnap
*Getting home safely on a dark country road
*Good friends, many of whom I miss very much right now
*The ability to praise God openly and freely

Have a wonderful weekend!

To be thankful for more than a day...

As we prepare for Thanksgiving this Thursday, I am realizing just how much I have to be thankful for. So I thought with every post I make this week, I would list some specific things I can praise the Lord and thank Him for in my life. It's the least I can do, since I know I spend so much time complaining, and so very little time being grateful. So here goes:

I am thankful for my family - my husband, Craig, and my daughters, Rachel & Grace. They are a constant source of joy, laughter, tears, fun, trauma (ha ha), blessings, surprises, and stability. Together we hold each other up and with God's mercy and grace, we can make it through any trial. I love them all.

I am thankful for warm things - sunny, hot, summer days and hot sidewalks. A raging fire and warm scarves. Steaming, hot coffee (with flavored cream, of course!), and my heated throw (thank you, honey!).

I am thankful my youngest daughter learned to ride her bike recently without training wheels - Hooray! Check out the video clip below if you want to see her in action.

I am thankful that when I am weary of this world, I can remember that this is not my forever home. Jesus is preparing a place for me, an awesome Heavenly Home, and by God's grace and the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for me, I know that my eternity is going to be spent there - WOW! That knowledge is enough to keep me going and fill my heart with thanks.

I am thankful for stuffing! A complete Thanksgiving meal to me would be a pot of stuffing and a spoon...ok, the spoon would be optional, but I do have manners! Enough said.

I am thankful for music. I love to sing, listen to music, listen to my daughters sing...if there is music playing, I'm happy. (Ok, unless the music is offensive or headache-inducing, but everyone has their own taste, so I won't be specific). Thank you God, that You encourage us to worship You with song, that we have the ability to use our voices in such a marvelous way. Some days, I feel like I've done nothing but opened my mouth to yell at my family and grouse at the world, when what I'd really rather do is just sing all day long. Oh, that I could praise more and punish less!

I'm thankful there is forgiveness. I need a lot of it.

I'm thankful my daughters call me mommy...don't stop for a loooooong time!

I'm thankful for parents and sisters and extended family and learning still what it means to be part of a large family...sometimes I'm a slow learner.

I'm thankful God is so patient with me, way more patient than I am with others.

I'm thankful He is a patient and persistent Teacher even when I am not the best student.

I am thankful for our home and our crazy chickens and our sweet dog and the other animals we have. They are a responsibility, but they are a joy.

Did I mention I am extremely thankful for stuffing?

More to come this week! I hope it will stir you to be mindful of the many things you have to be thankful for, and you will thank the One who has provided all that we have.

Have a Thankful week!

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

-1 Thessalonians 5:18