Control Relinquished

We were less than 50 steps into our family hike, when my youngest son's shoe caught the tip of a rock jutting up from the ground. This small rock was big enough to cause him to fall flat on his face; the dust of the earth coating his clothing. His already skinned knees were once again scraped open and he added more bruises to the already growing collection on his precious elbows. Even though I was right there to pick him up, dust him off, kiss his boo-boos, and comfort him. He still felt the need to fill the quiet woods with cries and tears still streamed down his little cheeks. Ironically, during the course of the 45 minute hike, 3 of the 5 of us fell or had close calls. And each time, there was a family member nearby to assist their fallen comrade! Isn't that kind of how life is? Sometimes we find ourselves face-planted into the dirt of life. Small, unwanted rocks trip and distract us from the life of peace we'd prefer to have. Sometimes we wonder why it's always...

Several weeks ago, our laptop started acting strange. Weird pop-ups continuously popped up. We use a Net Nanny to protect our computer from sites that show porn, violence, and everything else that is harmful to a family. And it was going berserk. I couldn't even go on the internet without 10 warning messages from the Nanny, so I figured we somehow got a virus. And then, a screen message kind of similar to this came up. My version told me the Trojan virus was detected and if I clicked the button or called the 1-800 number that was provided, they could remove it for me. I considered pushing the button, but then I decided to just take a picture of it to show my uncle who fixes computers.  When I dropped the computer off to be cleaned, I showed the pop-up to him. He informed me that this message came from the virus itself and if clicked on, there is no "fixing"! Instead, the virus embeds itself deeper into the computer. For whatever reason, this just ticked...

We all strive for perfection. The pressures around us force us to, whether or not we really want to. You can't tell me you've never had a flint of jealousy over someone else's life, or envied the orderly home pictured in magazines or Pinterest. We're constantly comparing ourselves to the 'mom next door'; comparing clothes, houses, kids, and parenting styles. I've been pondering these ideas of perfection for awhile. I've come to the conclusion that we cannot achieve this perfection that our minds seem to expect. And if we don't extend ourselves grace, it only adds to our frustration and sense of failure. I think if we're honest with ourselves, our desire for perfection stems from pride. We all want people to look at us and think we are 'World's Best Mom...World's Best Wife...World's Best Homemaker...World's Greatest Wonder Woman' I'm reminded of the passage in 1 Samuel 16:7, "Man looks on the outward appearanc...

Don't get me wrong. I am VERY ready for the lazy days of summer. I am ready for the warm sunshine, swimming, spontaneous play dates at the park, and no school. This is the first summer since I've been done with high school that I feel the vacation aspect of summer. By next week, my oldest daughter will have completed kindergarten. And come fall, she will enter full-day first grade and my son will start his education with 2 days of preschool per week. Prior to this year, summer was just summer. No difference from the rest of the year with my kids at home with me. But this year is different. I feel the pressure to get our activities packed into the 12 weeks of summer. I feel the squeeze of their childhood beginning to slip away into the fast-moving school years. Deep down I really want to enjoy this summer. And yet, in other ways, I find myself dreading it. This is also the first summer that my oldest two have outgrown their naps. Time to myself is essential for my sanity, so ...