Beach Day

We are blessed to live on the Oregon Coast and I will say we far too often take that for granted. We really don't venture to the beach much, why is that? It sure is beautiful. 

 

                                   

                                     

Missional Motherhood- Mothering towards the ultimate goal

It's so easy as a mother in our quest to do our best by our families to get caught up in all the obvious details of what that could mean- Giving our kids a picture perfect childhood, keeping a Better Homes and Gardens house and implementing a constantly Pinterest worthy lifestyle. Because, you know, it's totally possible to check all that off of your daily to do list. All of the mom bloggers we follow are obviously nailing it, so we should be able to as well. I have chased after those goals, had shining moments of "success" but consistently failed. As I have matured as a mother and a christian I have come to see the need for a "big picture" view of what motherhood is all about. One of the most formative voices I have come to seek out in this quest is Gloria Furman's. I first picked up her debut book, Glimpses of Grace, when I was a mom to just a toddler boy and I confess, I didn't really see the need for it. It was an "easy" time in life and I felt I had mothering somewhat mastered, it wasn't until I had a few more years (and kids) under my belt that I reread and so appreciated the hard and sweet truths of the gospel that Gloria shares with readers. When I heard about her newest offering, Missional Motherhood, I knew it was a book I needed to make time for.

What a perfect name for our holy calling- Missional Motherhood. When we really think about the eternal implications of our job, our goals become a whole lot loftier and success, on our own, seems even more impossible. Gloria comes alongside us and points us to the huge and ongoing narrative that we play a small, yet infinitely significant role in and where to turn our eyes to keep the course. She starts with laying out the idea that Mother is a verb- an ingrained in us by our Creator drive to nurture and bring life to those around us. All women mother- whether it be children, other loved ones, or disciples-we all strive to take care of those around us. And with all the brokenness and disorder we have to battle to do our job well- to fix and put in order- it can be so easy to become discouraged and disillusioned. I love the scripture laden journey Gloria takes us on thru the entire biblical story. To have the scriptural knowledge Gloria has, to be able to weave together the Lord's faithfulness and foresight into the messy human stories the bible contains- I strive to be a student of the Word like that! 

The second part of the book illustrates for us the many roles Christ fulfills perfectly for the mothers of the world. He is our Creator, our Redeemer, Our Prophet, Our Priest, Our King. Gloria does a marvelous job fleshing out what each of those "names" means to us- it means a lot. My absolute favorite chapter of this book was the last- Christ, the resurrected life for mothers. Wow, what a powerful message and so very relevant to my life right now. Gloria exhorts and encourages us with the reminder that Christ died on the cross to break sin's curse and to set all things right thru the soon to be new heavens and new earth- an eternity of perfection. But he is also making all things new right now! His Kingdom is coming here and now and we are a part of that! We can bring life in the face of death- because of Christ. We can endure these trials and pour ourselves out for others because we are truly living the resurrected life now. 

This book is a rich feast of truths and grace- I really would recommend it to each and every mom. It is the kind of book that is probably going to be just a bit over your head theologically and call you to a higher place- the perfect situation for spiritual growth. I will say, it is really isn't a "DIY christian mom" book, in the sense that it is a more of a thesis on mothering than a practical action guide. If you would like some beautiful and implementable mothering inspiration I would highly recommend The Life Giving Home by Sally Clarkson! I also am so excited to have the opportunity to review the coordinating bible study book to go with Missional Motherhood! Be on the lookout for that post soon. 

In my other family life reading this summer, I had the privilege to preview the newest book from The Better Mom's Ruth Schwenk, For Better of For Kids: A Vow to love your spouse with kids in the house.  I have read ALOT of Christian marriage books and it takes a very unique message to pique my interests in picking a new one up anymore. When I was given the chance to preview "For better or For Kids" I was intrigued by the premises since this is exactly the season of marriage I am in- figuring out a healthy "new normal" with multiple young kids in the house. The first part of the book was pretty normal protocol- keep God at the center, your marriage comes before your kids, keep intimacy a priority, etc. The second half was where I felt this book stands out from others. I was energized and encouraged by the chapter- "when you're running on empty"; it speaks on not neglecting you're spouse when life gets crazy and to protect each other by bearing each other's burdens. I loved this part of the book, I think because it is so relevant to the season of life my family is in! Circumstances have been hard and the best strategy my husband and I have found is to cling to each other and help to beat each other's burdens. When I read this chapter it put the pieces together of why and how we were "surviving" all of this and encouraged me to be even more intentional about watching for ways to put it into practice more.

This is a marriage book I would highly recommend for couples looking to not only be great Christian parents, but have a thriving marriage that is growing thru the "kids in the house" years rather than just surviving. "For better or For Kids" has some worthwhile insights on parenting as a team, making space for intentional and quality time together and how to keep falling love. 

On my "would love to read" book list-

Mere Motherhood  by Cindy Rollins

Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood by Jamie Martin

Simply Tuesday: Small-moment living in a fast-paced world by Emily P. Freeman

Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full by Gloria Furman

I received these books in exchange for my honest review- thanks to Zondervan and Crossway Publishing!

On how I've been learning to thrive in the midst of a hard season- it includes lots of books ;)

2016, it's been straight up hard. The New Year seemed to ring in non stop stress, tensions, sickness, death and difficulties. I don't hesitate to say it's been the hardest year of our lives, to date.  We've had some challenging seasons, to be sure, but they were always short lived enough to be remedied by a good family vacation or just some quiet time of respite. But this time the conflicts just keep piling up, there is no clear resolution to so many of the circumstances. It feels like there is a burden weighing down my heart, my days with all that has gone awry in my little (and the whole) world.  

So many of my people are going thru debilitating trials and reoccurring struggles and I feel powerless to do a thing about it.I don't have the resources or the answers to fix it all, even if I do have the heartfelt desire. But I know I won't leave the people I care for to go it alone, so I come up alongside them and do what I can to carry the weight of all that life throws their way. It is a privilege to be able to be in the trenches of life with people that I love but I have to admit, it's also incredibly draining and discouraging some days. This introvert seems to literally shut down when enough social stimuli is stacked against me. On a good day, I have an appreciation for my need for introspective quiet time but when needs are high and life is at a breakneck speed, I have dreams of being a self sufficient extrovert. But thankfully, I've found that God and those people closest to me have more grace with me than I have for myself. 

I guess all this to say, I feel I haven't had a lot to offer in the fresh insights and creative beauty department here lately. It's been a lot of survival mode and trying to remind others (and mostly myself) that God works all things for the good of those who love Him.  I feel like a bit of hypocrite to throw an Instagram filter on a couple of bright spots in an otherwise bleak season and call it "My Life". But honestly, looking at life thru rose colored glasses has proven to actually be a healthy coping mechanism of sorts for me. I won't deny the hard and ugly stuff but I have to keep looking for lovely moments too. The stark contrast between the beauty this world has to offer and the hard, horrible realities that make up such a large majority of this life are so very hard for me to reconcile. I don't want to be living with my head in the clouds and avoid calling hardships what they are, but I can not lose focus from the little miracles that I have fought hard to find in even the mundane of this life either. I don't need an easy life- less needs, more leisure- because I know I'm better for the hard, but I thrive off of the little bright spots- whether they come naturally or I have to create them.



Summer hasn't brought the otherworldly, magical respite that I have come to count on it for. Here we are half way thru July and we've had longer, sunshiny days but I haven't felt the anticipated shift into summer vacation mode. My garden beds are neglected yet all that green continues to grow. The calendar days just keep ticking away even if I don't fill them with days on the river bank or nights around the campfire. I've come to find myself frequently telling my oldest, "Time doesn't pause to wait for you." Ok, it's definitely not a very catchy maxim but it gets the point across to him that while he mopes around his room trying to put off the dreaded job of cleaning it he is also wasting away his opportunities for what he does want to do. Time doesn't wait for me to feel ready for it, it just keeps on. So I do have to grab ahold of the chances for the seasons' joy, but I need to be able to realize what is worth sacrificing some of my "wants" for this season-people. Dear, hurting fellow human beings are worth it. 

 Maintaining some semblance of intellectual forward movement is an important factor in keeping me sane and grounded in the midst of the continuous chaos. while official "school" hasn't been a big priority during these summer months making some intentional time at least reading books with my boys has been a sure way to maintain some good bonding time with them. We are working our way thru the My Father's Dragon series and Chronicles of Narnia as our core read alouds and thoroughly enjoying them.  The Read Around The World Book Club has been a true blessing to our summer! It is the perfect structured, yet low fuss "plan" to read some truly wonderful living books and introduce your children to the world at the same time. I feel confident that while we are reading beautiful stories about lives around the world my boys will come away from this summer with fun memories and a foundation in world geography. We're currently enjoying reading our way around Europe. So far, we have touched on the idea of "multicultural"-we got used to the idea of the different continents on the globe and time zones. I found the perfect supplemental project from the Barefoot Books website- a read around the world passport. It has been the perfect way to keep track of where we have "been" and our favorite books along the journey.

Then we moved on to read thru Africa; what a collection of fun and educational books! For You are a Kenyan Child and Papa do You love Me? were two of of the boys favorite picks. Anna Hibiscus is an adorable and quick to read chapter book that we ate up in a couple of days! Mama's top read was Mama Panya's Pancakes. I love Barefoot Books, they combine wonderful stories with so much extra educational content. This book even had a recipe for "Kenyan Pancakes" (pancakes with red chili pepper flakes and cardamom) that piqued our interest. The boys were brave enough to give it a try and declared it surprisingly good and I thought they were delicious!

I enjoy keeping my eyes open for and continually researching homeschool philosophies and curriculum for the new year and beyond. My oldest will most likely be starting his first "official" school year that will require through planning and some record keeping- not my strong point! I like the idea of Pam Barnhill's  Plan Your Homeschool Year or Raising Clovers Ultimate Homeschool Organization Course.  Maybe August will mean the back to school motivation to take on one of these helpful courses to set up my personalized school year agenda. I have come to realize I love so many aspects of so many different programs and styles that I will most likely just be piecing together my own curriculum. Hopefully this fall I can share with you all what exactly that looks like for this coming year! I also took an afternoon to read thru and plan with Pam Barnhill's Your Morning Basket guide this spring. I set up a template that worked really well for us until summer hit us hard, but I'm excited to implement a "morning time" again in the fall. We all- Mama and little boys- really relished that daily dose of truth and yes, even beauty ;) 

  During their Independence Day sale, I finally picked up a Preschool program I've been eyeing for awhile now for my Middle Boy, A Year of Playing Skillfully. I am pretty excited about this open ended, yet well rounded "wonder based" preschool curriculum. I really appreciate the approach of intentional play to develop kids'  skills across the board. My Middle Boy is such a hands on explorer of a learner-I really think this will be a great fit for him! And this mama is not so great naturally at coming up with or making those sensory type learning opportunities happen on my own so I think having a gently scheduled plan will be great for me as well! I hope to be sharing about this new preschool venture as we go as well.

 As for my personal goals and simple pleasures for this summer, it's mostly comprised of my ever growing "to read" book pile. I wish I could say I was doing some super deep and mind stretching challenge such as this book list from Summit at Oxford. Whoa, what a broad and rich feast of theological and worldview stud they are offering there? Some day, some day... For now, my stack may not be quite as impressive content wise as these, but it is fairly varied and pretty darn thick. My books offer me the stimulation to keep my mind growing and my perspective above the drama and energy draining busyness of the day to day. So, in the coming weeks of summer you will most likely find me working my way thru my summer reading list and sharing some of the highlights with you all. I have a bible study I feel will be a true help to my spiritual state this summer and hopefully yours as well! A fun and quirky fiction read that I got sucked right into. An informative, yet harrowing account of ISIS's effect on our Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East. 

I think (I hope) my boys will remember this summer as a season of warm, unstructured days full of squirt gun fights, a trampoline for acrobatics, and lots of time for imaginative play. I will remember the heart aches and struggles and feeling like I was surely letting my kids down while trying to be an available and present help to others. But I hope they remember Fourth of July fireworks, blueberry picking and lots of living room camp outs. I hope they remember parents who saw the importance of some sacrifice to walk through trials with friends, yet tried their hardest to find intentional moments to share some simple joys with their children too. Maybe there will never be a true balance to be found in this life, but I'm going to keep trying my hardest to walk through the hard and stop to notice the good along the way.

Give your Child the World- through the pages of some well picked books!

 I have three rough and tumble, non stop boys who take so much after their father, but thankfully there's a few things they share in common with their mama as well- including a deep love and large appetite for books. I have some of the fondest memories (and the cutest pictures!) of my boys, starting with my oldest as a baby, totally enthralled in a good book. I am proud and happy to see them be daring and physically active boys, playing every "fighting" game imaginable and never being very far away from mischief; but I also see the benefit in balancing their active play with spending the quiet, still time to fill their minds with good, imaginatively rich stories. I can see those stories bringing context and deeper meaning to their play by infusing it with characters they can "be" and "evil" they can face off and fight. I have smiled to myself as I hear multiple references to "Lord on the Rings" come out in their adventures (ok, and Star Wars too..). So, I have made it a point to introduce them to many "epic" adventure tales to stock their moral imagination, but I will admit, I have never been very aware or intentional about bringing globally minded books their way. I suppose it's because (to my detriment) I have not been a very global reader. I love to see new places and the idea of travel but the reality of traveling to foreign countries just doesn't seem like it will factor into my life on a very large scale. I guess due to the fact that I have not been nor have any concrete plans to be in these far off lands, they seem to stay "out of sight, out of mind."  That is a disservice on my part, since I know that the world wide we are more alike than different and all God is doing amazing things around the world, not just in North America and it's a loss to not get a glimpse into those lives and cultures. How fortunate we really are to have such a effective and enjoyable method to travel around the world (and through time and space) through the pages of a book!

This summer I am hoping to broaden my children's (and mine!) perspective and knowledge when it comes to this globe and all who call it home with the help of an amazing new resource of a book, Give Your Child the World: Raising globally minded kids one book at a time by Jamie Martin! I have heard stirrings about this book during the months it was in the making and new that I wanted to have it on my shelf when it was released. I love (and have marked up with abandon!) so many other well thought out book lists volumes- Honey for the Child's Heart and Read for the Heart- and loved the idea of this very modern and uniquely targeted edition being added to the ranks on my resources shelf. The book starts out with a engaging introduction to Jamie and her (in her own words) " Mini United Nations" of a family :) I loved reading of how Jamie fell in love with the world thru travel and ended up with a houseful of loved ones from all corners of the planet! The book list it's self is laid out by continent and then organized by age group. I thought it was very easy to follow and appreciated the short synopsis of each book recommended. I quickly jumped on to my local library's website and made short work of putting holds on a whole cart load of fun, new books! :) 

  Jamie's encouragement and ideas for implementing a "globally minded" mindset in our households is contagious and to make getting started even more enticed Jamie and Sarah Mackenzie of the The Read Aloud Revival have teamed up to offer a super fun summer reading program using Give Your Child the World as a guide! This is the first week of the program and it correlates with the first chapter of Jamie's book list- Multicultural. You can find more information and some fun printables and videos at the link above. We already have a towering stack of books waiting for us for Africa week next. I am so glad that they put together this "reading challenge" to go along with the book launch of this awesome new title; it was really the push I needed to just jump in, track down some titles and start reading to my kids. I have distinctive memories of my dad reading aloud in the evenings from the Christian Heros-then and now missionary series- traveling to China with Hudson Taylor and India with Amy Carmicheal. Some day, I am sure I will pull those titles out to read with "older" kids; for now I am excited to curl up on a couch with a big pile of picture books and take my kids on a journey around the world. 

I received this book from Book Look in exchange for an honest review. 

Brazen- not my natural state,but something I am growing into

I would classify my existence and presence in the world as a pretty "safe" one- as in, I have spent most of my life content with flying under the radar and not bristling with others-even if that means suppressing something I rightly feel strongly about. For the majority of my life that worked just fine and my life flowed smoothly. And then adulthood came in full force (surprisingly, I feel like this shift didn't happen until I'd been married a few years and had 2 kids) and I realized I was never going to make everyone happy at all times unless I literally had no solid identity and beliefs of my own. So I had the choice to either become a chameleon and never upset others, but never really live my own life or I could live in my true skin and take the risk of offending people with that every once in awhile. I do not like conflict, have never been one to search out "drama" and hate letting people down, but I also have learned I do not thrive well at all in other peoples "boxes". For a long, long time I thought there was really something wrong with me because I didn't process things like other people did and what "worked" for them didn't seem to do much at all for me and I felt certain I was just a "responsible adult" failure because of that. Thankfully with passing years, a broadening social circle and some perfectly worded books, I have come to realize that God is infinitely creative and He could never be so predictable as to make us all operate the same. One encouraging book I have recently read is Brazen: The courage to find the you that's been hiding by Leana Tankersley.

Leana speaks with a voice both kind and urgently inspiring to stop trying to "just fit in" and not trip people up with our weird ideas and needs. She clearly speaks of the need to find our "Created Center." As she puts it, "I believe this untouchable place inside you is the part where God himself put His hands in the wet concrete of your existence and said, 'You are formed in My image and it is good.' " She reminds us that it is not selfish to spend the time to know who it is God created you to be and to truly relish and enjoy the life He has blessed you with. No, we can not and should not selfishly do whatever whenever it makes us happy; but if we never stop long enough to find joy around us, we'll be hard pressed to find joy inside us to share with others. 

The book is broken up into 3 parts- Receive (Your Identity), Reclaim (Your Voice), Recover (Your Soul). I appreciated the organized journey the book takes thru the process of finding the courage to be the truest you. In the Receive section, Leana encourages readers to take 20 minutes of "soul time" each day, where you quietly sit and just let whatever thoughts and feelings the busyness of life has been suppressing rise to the surface and then subsequently ask God to help you sort thru and deal with those things.  Leana says, " So the challenge for all of us will be to create enough space to practice what we know, amd then simply believing God at His word: that as we come to Him, we trade our try for His rest. We trade our tangle for His peace." She continues on to remind us to Abide in Christ and keep "casting out our nets", even when we don't see much of a harvest from it. 

The Reclaim section challenges us to get of our fear of not being good enough and just share the gifts God has created in us with the world. To learn to be Brazen- we find the balance of fully embracing the wounds and fully embracing the wonder of life. We have to take the chance on making our voice heard and realizing sometimes that will bring tension to a situation or relationship and while that shouldn't be our goal, it can't or shouldn't always be avoided either. This paragraph really resonated with me- "I understand in theory that I will have to cross people in this world..but for so long I've never called people out on these things because I was more concerned with being though well of then protecting my own wellness. Then all of a sudden I realized I was tired not because life was full but because life was full of things that were draining the life right out of me." I hate letting people down but I have found that (surprisingly enough) I am not superwoman and I cannot fill all the needs that surround me, no matter how much I want to. It is so much better for my own wellness and the good of my family when I try to humbly discern what my "limitations and boundaries" are. 

The portion on Recover encourages readers to find ways to bring beauty into your life that speaks to and inspires you to savor life. To give ourselves grace and release some of the high expectations we have of ourselves. That we are constantly Becoming. Leana says, " We are both onward and waiting. We are both being and coming. We are both pursuing and receiving. We are holding the tension of a state of being and an action at the same time. In this tension is where we learn to dance." I take great encouragement in the midst of this tension from Philippians 1:6 -"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." I appreciate Leana's gentle appeal to rest and regather when you are in a season of pain, change or grief- that all your responsibilities and even all the "good stuff" will still be there waiting- but for the time being stop, feel and process your "heaviness" and let God carry you through.  

 Brazen is an inspiring read that I will be recommending to my friends. My one caveat, I so appreciated the truth and encouragement Leana had to share but some of the terminology and wording she choice felt a little new age-y to me. I would say that the content is sound, but I'll admit that the language used to share it at times made me extra discerning. All in all, I feel this is a book any woman would benefit from!

I received this book from Revell Publishers in exchange for my honest review.