Wednesday, June 29, 2011

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.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

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.

*

Be inspired here:

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Just Empty Boots


Just doing
some reading
and thinking
and praying
this morning.

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.


sneak peek
Linking up with Studio JRU!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

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.*

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

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.


Finding Heaven
I'm so glad to have found Jen and this group of ladies here:
Lots of inspirational blogs to check out!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

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.

*
sneak peek
Love sharing blog-life with these creative spirits...
Check out other artists here:  Studio JRU.


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copyright 2011~Jodene (Jodi) Shaw.