Adjustment

Last year was an amazing year for us.  The biggest blessing by far was the addition of BubbaJ to our family.  It took a lot of adjusting, but he has added so much joy to our family.  Now we are faced with another event that will hopefully bring us lots of joy too.  My parents have gotten a permanent residence in our state. 

Ever since, well, really the summer before my senior year in high school my parents have moved a lot.  My dad moved to Virginia and my mom stayed with me so I could finish high school.  Then she moved to be with Dad.  After that they lived in Texas, Oklahoma, back to Texas, and Florida.  For the last several years they have lived in their fifth wheel or motor home, so they have been in Florida some of the time and with us some of the time. 

My parents' decision to move away was one of the best they ever made.  That, along with my maturing into an adult, have made our relationship so much stronger.  Also, they found joy that I'm convinced they could never have found any other way.  But it came with it's down sides.  While other college kids were going back home on the weekend, I didn't have a home to go to.  While other families gathered at their childhood homes for holidays, allowing them to reminisce about Christmas's and Thanksgiving's past.  We didn't have a childhood home to go back to.  When we tell our kids we are going to see Grammy and Papa, they aren't sure where we are going.  They have missed basketball games, soccer games, music concerts, and birthday parties.  But we have enjoyed some amazing family vacations that our kids will remember forever.

While they will still be gone some, I look forward to the benefits of my parents living close by.  They will be able to have us all over for supper, babysit the kids if we need them to, come to some of the kids activities.  I'm sure there will be lots of adjusting.  How often will we see them, where will we see them, what will we do when we're with them?  How to balance letting them have their own lives with our desire to have them around for everything.  But as BubbaJ has showed us, adjusting can be very difficult and sometimes painful, but the blessing that remains is well worth it.

Father, Be with our family as we make this adjustment.  Guide us through our decisions and our reactions to others decisions.  Help us to think of others first and to use kind words as we communicate as a family.  Mold our desires into your will and use this opportunity to show each of us your glory, grace, and wisdom.  I pray that this change will bring comfort and joy to our entire family.  Thank you for giving me parents who have put you at the center of their lives and given me a legacy of faith to follow.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Surprisingly Satisfied

I do solemnly resolve to embrace my current season of life and will maximize my time in it.  I will resist the urge to hurry through or circumvent any portion of my journey but will live with a spirit of contentment.

Samantha Zweifel

Not-so-bloody Boy Incident

We had BubbaJ's one year checkup today.  Everything was fine except Doc said BubbaJ has a bead in his ear.  One of Precious's bracelets got broken a few weeks ago so when Doc said there was a pearly white bead in his ear, I knew just where it had come from.  The only question is whether he put it there or one of his sisters.  Apparently it will come out by itself and I don't need to worry.  I'm not really worried about the bead that's there now.  It's more about the things I will find in his ear or up his nose in the future.

Bloody Boy Incident #1

We had our first bloody incident with BubbaJ yesterday.  Of course my husband was at work when it happened.  Why does no one ever get hurt when he's home?  I mean seriously!  He's the one teaching them all kinds of dangerous things and yet I'm always the one who has to deal with the injuries.  Anyways, here is how it went down.  The girls come running to me asking, "Why is BubbaJ's mouth red?"  I didn't quite know what to think because they were extremely calm.  When I saw him, his whole mouth was red with blood and his shirt was red.  I rushed him into the bathroom to find out where it was coming from.  It took me a long time to figure it out because it was bleeding so much I couldn't pinpoint the origin of the blood.  I finally determined that it was coming from between his top lip and gum.  I called my husband to see what to do next.  I think I more needed him to calm me down than actually tell me anything, but he knew just what to say to me to keep me focused.  It took a while to stop the bleeding, but it finally did.  I gave BubbaJ some Tylenol because I felt so bad for him.  A couple of times throughout the day it started bleeding again, but stopped relatively quickly.  I'm sure we will have plenty more bloody incidents with a boy.  And I'm sure that my husband will always have the words to calm me down.

The Resolution for Women - Overflowing Blessing

"The contented woman, when required to give of her time, her love, her resources...herself...is secure in the knowledge that she possesses enough to do it.  And she looks forward to experiencing the promise of an outlandish return on her investment."--Priscilla Shirer

When I hear the sermon on God returning your giving in abundance, my mind automatically turns to finances.  Which, is part of it, but what I need work on right now is energy and love.

I have always struggled with low energy levels.  It has sort of turned into this cycle.  I'm tired so I covet sleep.  I have this fear that tomorrow I'm not going to have enough energy, so I try to store it up today.  Like somehow the nap I had today will sustain me tomorrow when there is no time for that.  But I end up having no energy today and no energy tomorrow.  Since my post on trusting that God would give me the energy I needed to get through the day, I have learned that giving my energy to BubbaJ or my girls or my husband produces much better results than taking a nap.  God looks at that as serving Him and in return provides me with more energy. 

Also, I rely way too much on my husband to fill my "love bank."  He will never be perfect, he will never love me enough, and he will never fill me up.  When I don't feel loved, I tend to pout or feel sorry for myself.  Which then turns into me not wanting to do anything for anyone because "they don't love me like they should."  If I would simply rely on God to fill me up, I would have all the love I need and so much more to share with my family and friends. 

"It appears that the best way to get more of what you need is to give away the little you think you have left--at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way.  Yes, the best way to be surprisingly satisfied is to be irrationally released to respond to God's promptings to serve, even when doing so seems impossible because of your perceived lack." - Priscilla Shirer

The Resolution for Women - The Secret

Contentment.  It has always been a secret to me. That's probably why Paul has always been one of my favorite people.  "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.  I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot."  Philippians 4:11-12. 

"A satisfied woman is such a surprising woman.  She is shockingly noticeable to a world that lives on a watered-down version of the secret--a secret that she obviously got the truth about.  You can tell it by her peace and serenity, by her solace and restfulness, by the mysterious sense of ease that accompanies her.  Her presence alone delivers an air of refreshment to any setting she enters, to anyone she's around." The Resolution for Women

I WANT THAT!  To not want that girl's hair or that girl's clothes or that girl's well-behaved kids.  This world is so good at convincing us that we need something different or newer or better.  It's a constant battle to remind myself that God has given me everything I need for this very moment in my life. 

"Your God can be trusted to grant you the supply you need to excel at His purposes.  So if you don't have it - whatever it is - it's because you don't need it.  You may want it, but it's not necessary in order to accomplish what He knows is most important for your life today."  The Resolution for Women

My Needs                     God's Provision
Food/Shelter                 wonderful home/more than enough food
Energy                          somehow there is always enough(sometimes just enough but enough)
Support                         Christian husband, family and friends
Guidance                      Scripture and Biblical books

There are so many reasons for God to withhold blessings from me.  I'm selfish, I'm greedy, my heart is not ready to accept them, I am not ready to use them the way He wants.  I trust that God will help me to change those things and bless me when He sees fit.

The Resolution for Women - Every Bite Counts

I am currently reading The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer based on the movie Courageous.  I want to document the journey I go through as I read it, so I am going to attempt to post for every section I read.  First, I have to say that I did not seek out this book.  My husband and I watched the movie when it was out in theaters and I secretly wished that it had touched more on mothers.  As I walked through Walmart the other day, I was thinking that I needed a book that would really engage me.  And that's when I walked by an end-cap filled with this book and also the one for men.  I truly hope God uses this book to change me and that others will be able to see and feel that change.

Today I read about being content in the moment.  I had never thought of it this way, but Priscilla explained that she doesn't have many memories because she spent most of her life just looking forward to the next stage. 

"I recognized that by rushing through life, I'd been subtly devaluing those around me and experiences I was involved in, not appreciating the importance and significance they bring to my life at this very moment, not grasping my responsibility for holding dear and treating well these gifts God has entrusted to me.  Instead of embracing the privilege of being a blessing to my husband, my children, my friends, and others, I'd been quietly communicating that I wanted them to change and speed up, to get busy being somebody else, someone who's more in line with what I want and need, to hurry along to a place where they could make me happier than they currently do."


I went through most of my life trying to get to the next stage too.  Until, all of a sudden, I realized my kids are half grown.  They will never be babies again.  They will never need me to tie their shoes again.  They will never graduate from kindergarten again.  And there will be a day when they will never live with me again.  That's why with BubbaJ, I have been living in the moment.  Enjoying every stage as he goes through it.  Because as Priscilla said, "Only for these fleeting moments would my children talk, look, and act exactly like this.  And if I chose to hurry through them in an attempt to avoid the parts I didn't like, I'd simultaneously miss all the things I did like about this season."