Choosing Motherhood Part 2

 

So I had to share more thoughts on motherhood.

More mothering from home advice:

dressed, brushed teeth, fixed hair and makeup.

It makes a huge difference in my attitude.

But it's easy to let it slide and not do it.

Now, I am not making any sort of condemnation

on the choice to work outside the home.

There is enough blaming that spouts around.

Parenting is hard from home and from work.

Choices to work outside the home and to work inside the home are both sacrifices.

Each family has to make that difficult choice.

As moms we do our best with the unique situation of our lives.

We, as moms, are not perfect

and neither will our kids be

whether we are at home or at work.

I simply share what my challenges

have been, especially in my thoughts,

in my choice to work from home.

Choosing to be a mom first

does not have to mean that I must

lose my own identity.

Or giving up

my own dreams.

Being a mom

is part of my dream

for my life.

I can still very much

be who I am

as a mom.

Motherhood is part of who I am.

I embrace it.

A wonderful opportunity

is there to be creative

with weaving the uniqueness

of who I am

and the "other" callings in my life

into our family life.

It is not a choice

of "them or me"

but a choice of

"us".

And how that "us" will

look

in our lifestyle.

I hope I teach my kids

to be who they are,

to maintain their own personal identity,

to creatively take steps

on the journey

of

living their beliefs,

within

the beautiful design

of

a

family.

It's not all easy and beauty.

Original dreams did not all happen

just the way I wanted them.

But that is ok.

I can still dream and live those dreams

and think big

as a mom.

It just might look a little different

than I first thought,

and it just might

take more time than I had originally planned.

And choosing to be a mom

over the career status that I once desired

while developing a creative business

{slowly}

in our home

around our lifestyle

is living

my

new

dream.

What is your dream, mom?

For your lifestyle?

For your family?

What is most important, at the core of your life?

Are you living what is important to you?

What can you do today to take

one step,

just one step,

toward living what you believe?

If you could design your life,

what would be most important to that life?

Start today.

Choosing Motherhood

a friend of mine just made the decision

to let go of her job

and stay home with her kids . . . preschoolers

a huge decision.

what would I tell her??

I'd warn her that it is hard work . . . beyond full time work.

and that there will be questions and thoughts that

creep in and that will try to make their home in your heart

thoughts that make an attempt to de-value

choosing motherhood

but that this is the truth that I make a concious choice to believe

that poured out in my journal ~

The truth is that embracing motherhood is a wonderful example

{not a bad, lazy, indulgent, luxurious example}

~an eternally valuable lifestyle and example.

The truth is that motherhood is a worthy and so, so valuable

sacrifice of servanthood . . .

not martyrdom, not doormat syndrome, not pitiful poor-me,

but weighty, glorious value.

So do not let the enemy of your heart steal the value

that is in your choice of motherhood.

Don't accept the accusation heard in your head of being lazy

or indulging in luxury, or of not contributing, or being a burden

because you are a mom making your way in life

for your family from and at home.

Moments slip away like sand

through your fingers . . .

Precious, priceless moments.

Along with mundane and monotonous and frustrating and irritating moments.

But valuable moments, none-the-less, in the life of a child . . .

your

child.

Today, my 4 year old daughter

told her cousin that her

brown oval earrings

looked like

ticks.

Yes, ticks.

I know, gross, right?

But that's what she said, in her blatant honesty.

She also went through this for clothes today:

pjs, "morning clothes" to wear to Bible school, play clothes, a swimsuit to jump on the trampoline in with the hose running, warm night gown because she was cold, tried on her sister's swimsuit, jeans and a t-shirt to ride the motorcycle, shorts and shirt because she was hot, joggers and a t-shirt to ride the motorcycle again, and pjs after her shower.

Then she went outside and turned on the hose in the driveway and made mud-pies at 8:00 p.m.

I gave a huge lecture that I may or may not follow through on tomorrow

about clothes and laundry.

Motherhood moments.

Some are not so great.

Some drive me crazy.

But I am thankful for them all.

And every once in a while there

are the sweet moments like this . . .

when the 9-year-old says,

"Mom, can you break your diet?"

melted chococate chips with

powdered sugar and strawberries.

You better believe

I broke my diet!

This is my one life

with each of my kids'

one

life

to live

what I believe

with

them

now.

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Be inspired here:

Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood at Finding Heaven with Jen and friends.

Just Empty Boots

Just doing

some reading

and thinking

and praying

this morning.

"66 Love Letters" by Dr. Larry Crabb.

66 letters

starts with

Genesis

ends with

Revelation.

Read his first chapter about Genesis.

Started my journey through Genesis.

I read Genesis 1:1-2.

2 verses.

Yep, that's it.

Looked up cross references to Psalm 102:25, Isaiah 40:21 and John 1:1-3.

Wrote a response of about 4 pages in my journal.

Two verses.

It is going to take me a long time to get through the 50 chapters of Genesis.

Let alone all the way to the last verse of Revelation.

But I don't have a deadline.

But this is what I am left with:

without God, just empty boots.

{Actually much worse than empty boots

because empty boots don't fail miserably

and make little and catastrophic messes

and have minor and traumatic troubles on their own.}

But really, even with God, I'm still going to fail and struggle,

but the point and purpose will be found in Him

. . . eventually . . .

maybe on the other side.

The struggle will be here.

Life is like child labor

death the delivery

and

heaven

is embracing the new life in my arms and heart,

as the pains of labor-life diminish and fade.

At least, that is what my faith is, that is what my hope is.

For all the things I cannot do, or explain.

Without Him I am hopelessly insecure and selfish.

Me without Him is incomplete.

That's why I've found that

"believe in yourself"

is incomplete.

That "Believe in Me instead"

is a weight off of my failing and limited shoulders

and restores

my confidence and strength and belief in me

because Christ is ultimately

the

confidence

the

strength

the

believed in.

"I can do all things"

is incomplete without

"because Christ is my strength."

{Philippians 4:13}

A house built

is in vain without

the Lord as builder.

A house-life built

on the foundation of God

will stand through the inevitable storms,

but built without Him

will wash away into the sand

and the fall will be terrible.

{Psalm 127:1 and Matthew 7:24-27; Luke 6:47-49}

"Desires of my heart"

are not fulfilled without

delighting myself in the Lord.

{Psalm 37:4}

Basically,

apart from Him, I can do nothing.

{John 15:5}

Just empty boots.

Linking up with Studio JRU!

Work in Progress

Many of my pieces revolve around this theme.

Life is a journey

rather than a destination.

It is a process.

And that is ok.

For several years,

I seemed to have believed

that there were people who had life

"all together"

and so therefore, there was something wrong with me.

I was in a mental

boxing match with myself.

And when you are beating yourself up

one part is always winning

and the other is always losing.

But then in a day of brokenness

I seemed to discover

God's grace

for the process

and for a His continual

transformation

that He will not give up on.

He does not give up on me

but continues to transform me

until the process is complete.

What a relief!

And what a miracle

that as my body and mind age and become older

my spirit is renewed continually.

And I seem to rediscover

who I really am

that person that was always there

but needed a

metamorphosis.

I love this passage paraphrase of Romans 12 from

The Message by Eugene Peterson:

Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking-around life--

and place it before God as an offering. 

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

. . . . fix your attention on God.  You'll be changed from the inside out.

Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.

Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity,

God brings the best out of you,

develops well-formed maturity in you.

I am so glad that He is not finished with me yet.

*ART & PHOTOS COPYRIGHT 2011 Jodene Shaw.*

Not So Quiet Times

It has been a cool spring and early summer.

Last year by this time,

I'd spent many mornings on the deck.

With so much rain and wind,

it's rare that I have a moment to myself on the deck.

I crave the quiet sometimes.

Just silence.

No tv, no fighting, no whining,

no

noise.

But somebody knows

my

hiding

place.

And my little "Tootsie Pop" came out

to find me . . .

packing her

Precious Moments Bible

her blankie,

classic Dale Jr. cap,

red flip-flops

and

loads

of

silliness.

Even early in the morning.

And so I shift gears

from quiet

to grabbing the camera

for some fleeting

cuteness.

I'm so glad to have found Jen and this group of ladies here:

Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood.

Lots of inspirational blogs to check out!

Inspired by Vibrant Color

At last I am

"in the studio"

again.

Working on some fresh new pieces

inspired by

vibrant

color.

Yet a common theme

to my heart . . .

climibing my little caterpillar body

up on God's altar

and letting go

allowing Him to do metamorphosis in my life

and then to

embrace who He designed me to be

instead of trying to conform

to the world's images

and trust that He knows what He is doing

even

when

I

do

not.

He has been gracious to me

this week,

this year,

this lifetime.

Given heart's desires

that shows

how He knows my heart.

I am delighted in Him.

He has carried me and walked me

through difficult terrain

in which His mercys have been fresh and new

each day

and He is also so good to me

in times to celebrate.

I embrace these moments that are delightful

and I thank Him.

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Love sharing blog-life with these creative spirits...

Check out other artists here:  Studio JRU.

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copyright 2011~Jodene (Jodi) Shaw.