Twirls 'n Curls

I saw it.... in the way my nine-year old came up beside her sister during the worship service, circled her arm around her sister's waist, and began singing softly.  I heard it.... she was talking cheerfully to a roomful of preschoolers,  "Okay now, in 5 minutes we're going to clean up, and I need you all to help, ok?"   Two minutes later, with strained politeness, she added: "Let's be sure we're talking nicely to each other, ok?!"  I felt it... at 9:00pm, just after I'd tucked her in, when her eyes flew open in panic, "My spelling! I forgot to to my spelling! Mom, I CAN'T turn it in late. I have to do it NOW!"  I flinched, knowing she came by her perfectionism honestly.  The good, the bad, the sweet, the ugly. My girls are mirror images of me and my parenting, with smatterings of my husband thrown in. The way they speak to each other, take care of each other, and leave trails of discarded activities behind so...

So young... and so clueless! Order. Efficiency. Productivity.  These are words I'd use to describe my life... before kids. Back when I crammed 4 years of college into 3 years, or worked 40 hours a week plus spent 20 hours each weekend helping start a church in Los Angeles. I was stretched. I was exhausted. And I loved it. Just before we had our first child, my husband took a job as the senior pastor of a small, rural church, and I stepped down from my job in a busy office to be home with the baby and help him at the church. I’d read some books on motherhood to prepare myself, but all in all, I wasn’t too worried. I mean, I’d been taking care of executives for quite a few years by that point. Their needs are much more complex than a tiny baby’s.  How hard could this be, really?   As it turned out, much harder than anything I’d ever done.  What I remember the most about those early days was the overwhelming frustration of not being able to get anything ...

People often ask me what it's like raising 4 girls so close in age, especially working full time. I always mention a lot of emotions, a lot of fun memories, and a little bit of crazy. A few months ago, on a particularly hectic Thursday, I decided to chronologize a few of the events, to give you a glimpse into my life:   Wednesday 11:50pm - Finally decide to call it quits on turning 300 chopsticks into wands in time for the Harry Potter-themed dance on Friday at my kids' school. Thursday 6:50am - Hit snooze again on my alarm and realize I have lost any potential morning time sans kids by choosing to decorate said chopsticks until midnight. 6:57 - Roll out of bed to wake up the kids. On the way to their room, note that my oldest, Linsey, is sitting in a yoga pose on the bathroom counter, doing her makeup. 6:58 - Turn on shower to get warm because It. Takes. Forever. 7:01 -  Weigh myself and vow to do better than the takeout I had yesterday. 7:02 - Check on kids...

Pretty much any parent will tell you, our kids teach us MUCH more than we could ever teach them. Here are a few lessons they've had on display this summer that I just had to share: Character Traits Empathy : the art of making your expression match someone else's for awhile   Industry : Our willingness to learn from the generations before us  connects both teacher and student to something bigger than themselves.      Serving : Learning to do things for yourself is great.  Learning to do things for others is even better. On Style      Flair : There are certain mundane tasks one simply can't avoid in life.  However, one always has the choice to do them with style. Uniqueness : Be proud of who you are, quirks and all. "Today you are you! That is truer than true.  There is no one alive more you-er than you!" - Dr. Seuss     Tech-Savvy: ...

To bring you up to speed on our lives: This week, my youngest started kindergarten, and the other two started in 2nd and 4th grade. This week, my mom left after a two-week stay here where she did all my dishes and laundry. (Thanks, Mom!) This week, my husband went on a week-long backpacking trip to Colorado while I stayed home to get the kiddos off to school.  (Thanks, dear!) We're also in the middle of buying a house and becoming foster parents. Like, right now. One life event never seems to be enough in our family, we prefer juggling two or three simultaneously. But, I digress. Lately all these changes have caused me to think about defining moments in my life, moments that clearly outlined the path I knew I wanted to take. 9 1/2 years ago, I felt like my life should look like this all the time: Regal, intellectual husband who "abounded in the work of the Lord" as the senior pastor of our small church in a rural town Modestly clad, doting wife who spent hour...

S ome Christmas down the road, my towering pine  Will have matching ornaments, all in a line,  And red ribbons cascading down tinsel of gold; But that's some Christmas down the road. O n that same Christmas, my Nativity Scene won't come from Fisher Price,  And no one will ask, "How long till Christmas?" more than once or twice. No fingerprints in my fresh-baked fudge, no meltdowns from sugar overload - But that's for some Christmas down the road. T hat festive season yet to come will hold no reindeer ears  Blocking my view of the Christmas parade, no childish games that end in tears. No holiday parties with tokens or tickets, and no cheap "treasures" bestowed... But that will be Christmas down the road. T his year, I'm holding on to the mistletoe kisses,  My handmade crafts and those batter-smeared faces. I'll take smudges, bad jokes, and a mismatched tree If it means having Christmas again with ...

A coworker was having a rough week awhile back, so I told him that I'd been praying for him. His response struck me - he simply said, "Keep doing that. I live an incredibly blessed life... the correct prayer is for me to recognize it far more than I do." For some reason I was thinking about that conversation tonight after I sleepily went through the motions of making lunches, putting the kids to bed (and back to bed again..and again), and picking up the house. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the keychains we'd picked up for the girls on our recent trip to California. They reminded me of how much fun we had, how many friends we saw, what great memories we made...   That's when it struck me, I am so blessed! The signs are everywhere, I just need to wake up and see them . So, being the literalist I am, rather than going to bed early as planned, I grabbed my phone and began snapping pictures around the house of more things that remind me of how amaz...