“Do it a‘gin, Daddy!” & the Elusive Power of “re-do’s"

This time of year, I’m reminded, actually flooded, with memories of my growing-up-years-Christmases. Daddy would always set up the mammoth-sized video camera (one big enough to hold an entire VHS tape inside of it) upon its rightful place on a tripod in the corner of the living room, turn it on to record mode, and just let that thing take in whatever came across its path. 

Oh, the stories that thing could tell. 

Oh, the America’s funniest home videos competitions those VHS tapes could win.

Oh, the embarrassing-etched-forever-in-time-moments that thing has recorded. (Will, am I right? “Getty up, getty up, getty up, let’s gooooo.”)

While Dad was setting up the video camera, Mom was always busy baking the southern staples of Christmas “breakfast,” aka cinnamon rolls and probably pigs-in-a-blanket. Somehow, in the midst of all that, one of my parents corralled all five of us kids and convinced us to eat breakfast and watch a parade on tv or something before all the present-opening-madness commenced. Oh, and we readied ourselves to call the last kid who woke up for the day “lazy” for the day’s entirety. I can hear it now, "Oh hey Lazy!" "So-and-so is so lazy today!" "Hey, why are you so Lazy?"

Even before all of this occurred on Christmas morning, one of my long-time memories (brought to my mind by watching and re-watching one of those handy leftover VHS tapes of yester-year) that will forever stay in my mind is the time when I was a toddleresque little thing and was bent “helping” my parents and at the time 2 older brothers decorate the Christmas tree. To my recollection, “we” did a mighty fine job of decorating that tree. We did such a good job of decorating it that as soon as all of the ornaments were hung, I begged my Daddy to “Do it a’gin!!!” Daddy calmly replies, “No, Rosemary, we’re not going to do it again.” But I think I remember myself being pretty insistent on the whole thing. ha. Oh, to have that toddler energy today. That passion for such little things, too. Looking back, it was probably just the perfectionistic tendencies already welling up inside my little personality that made me so bent on redoing the Christmas decorations once they were clearly already done being decorated.

As I’m approaching 32 years in this upcoming year and the Christmas season is already heavily upon us, I somehow find myself still inwardly chanting “Do it a’gin!” about some things in life. A lot of things, actually. Things I’ve done well and enjoyed. Things I haven’t done so well and regretted. Things I haven’t done at all and felt guilty about it. And though some things can be and are worth repeating, most things in life simply aren’t up for redo’s. And for the ones that are, ask yourself, once you get a chance to “redo” those things, are they going to be good enough that time around, or will it take a round 3 and 4 and…? You get the idea. 

Redo’s aren’t fix-alls. It’s something that my wise ole Daddy knew way back in circa 1989 that my little mind couldn’t possibly conceive. 

And it’s something our Heavenly Father knows about each of us even today. 

If we’re honest, we all have things in life we’d like to re-do. Things we’ve done well. Things we’ve done poorly. Things we’ve neglected altogether. But this Christmas season, instead of focusing on all the redo’s that we surely could pile on our plates and we could allow to weigh heavily on our minds, let’s focus on the things we can do well in the present. Let the past be the past. Let the future take care of itself. But let today, most of all, be a gift worth giving by being present, being there, caring, loving, serving, and doing for those God has so strategically placed in our families and in our lives.

{Oh, and whether you decorated your Christmas tree to Pier-One-style-perfection this year, or let your sweet-little-bundles-of-toddlerhood-joy “help” with it, it matters not. Don’t try to perfectionize the memory out of it. Find a way to seal its memory in your mind. Scrap it into a book somewhere, if that’s your thing. Take a picture (or a VHS?). Learn to enjoy what is, instead of what could be. Free yourself up from the elusive power of “re-do.” Most of all, take time to thank your Daddy, both earthly and Heavenly, that He has the wisdom to let you not get stuck in the re-do but to keep you moving forward to the next big thing He has planned for you and your life.}

"Get Out of My Mirror Space!"

Being the mom of an almost 16-month-old little girl makes each day come with its own set of challenges, joys, surprises, messes(!), and a variety of experiences and moments that just make my heart smile and then melt to pieces, as these moments and experiences become all-too-fast-fading-into-memories. I remind myself nearly daily that I should take time (make time?) to record each and every one of these little moments, so the memory will last long after my little 16 month old has turned 16 years old. Before I blink twice, I'm sure she'll be married and have her very own 16 month old to nurture and fill up baby books full of similar memories.

With that said, one cute little instance happens nearly daily between the two of us, my sweet daughter and me. (Needed background info: I used to sit on the floor with a full-length mirror and put on my makeup every day. My husband saw this, thought it looked uncomfortable, and promptly bought, assembled, and surprised me with a brand-new vanity, complete with mirror and comfy chair, for Mother's Day this past year. Although that was a very sweet gesture on his part and I do like/enjoy it, I don't use it nearly as much as I probably should for the price he paid for it. And here's why.) Nearly every day, I take my makeup bag full of tiny treasures, my brush, and a small yet magnifying what-looks-like-could-pass-for-an-old-locker-mirror (maybe it is?) into my sweet baby girl's room. I attempt to get ready as she just doots around playing, laughing, and being silly and cute. Pretty much, just doing what every little girl excels at doing. This system has been working out pretty well for me (as long as you don't tell my husband about the abandoned vanity situation going on in the master bedroom every day) because I can get ready for the day while my little one is in her element, playing, doing her thing, etc.

Well, it was working out great for everyone involved (my little one and me) until everyone got involved. And this is what I mean by that. You see, when little one was playing around, I found this great little perch to put my locker-mirror on, so that...
my hands would be free.
and I could still see.
to get ready.
hope you liked that attempt at poetry. ;)

Anyway, little one discovered my mirror perch and decided it was her duty to stop accomplishing her baby-toddler-activity-agenda for those moments and photo-bomb the mess out of my mirror space. And it wasn't just once or twice this happened. It started happening like ALL THE TIME. At first, it was cute. She'd peek in the mirror space, look back at me, giggle, and go on about her baby-wonderland-of-toys. And every day, I'd say playfully, "Get out of my mirror space!" But very quickly, it became her routine every day to hijack my mirror space to the point where I was gaining no progress in the makeup-and-get-ready-department of my day. One day, all of this culminated to the highest degree of her actually unperching my mirror from her toy, hijacking it, and running away gleefully proud of her little self.

All of this lead me to call out to her, "Hey! Get out of my mirror space! Give me back my mirror!!" In all reality, my mirror was perched on her toy. Looking at the bigger picture, it was still my locker-mirror. This whole silly story culminates in a life lesson that I feel God has been slowly weaving into my heart and mind and now quickly knitting onto the pages of my blog.

You see, God's word is like a mirror for the deepest parts of our souls. In fact, James 1:23-25 touches on this idea exactly. In the ESV translation, it reads, "For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."

So, there it is, God's Word acts as a mirror to our lives, if we allow it to. But how many times do we allow distractions, busyness, and frivolity to crowd out our mirror space? How often do we allow preoccupations with other people (comparing ourselves with them, criticizing them, correcting them in our minds, controlling/manipulating them, or completely trying to please them) to get into our mirror space crowding out the truth that God wants us to learn about Him and use it as a means to peel back the layers of lies and discover the truth of the state of our own current selves, minds, attitudes, hearts, and souls? How many times do we knowingly and unconsciously allow thoughts like "if only so-and-so could hear this message" or "God, why did you send this into my life, why didn't you give it to so-and-so" (on and on the list could go) to capture our attention and go running off with the daily-mirror-Truth that is meant for personally for us to get spiritually ready for our today?

Next time you sense in your soul that you're allowing any of these thoughts to become hindrances to your sight and knowledge of what the mirror is trying to teach you, instead of simply allowing it to continue on, day after day, try calling out, "Get out of my mirror space!" Retrieve the truths that are meant for you to apply to your own personal life.

Better yet, find a new (higher?) perch to set your mirror on.

Best of all, revisit the beautiful vanity your loving Husband has set, made, and purchased just for you. As you take the time to ready yourself for the day, don't worry about the games, silliness, giggles, and childishness that will continue on in nearby rooms undisturbed. Give yourself a gift of mirror space and breathing room to acknowledge the truth about what His Mirror is showing you.

Traits I Want My Daughter to Own

Recently, I read a quote that read something like this:

"Parenting is all about teaching your kids how to live without you. The difficult part is accepting success."

Man, is that quote so true! Now, granted, there are tons of aspects of parenting that are difficult. {Not *just* accepting success at the end of all your efforts.} Perhaps, the most difficult right now for me is the realization that time is short & stops for no one.

Parents must pour into little (growing!) ones as much and as fast and as intentionally as possible in the short amount of time that we are gifted with the presence of our children in our homes.

As any parent will tell you....
On any given day, this is not an easy task.
Most days are messy.
Some days are downright difficult to navigate.
But what's important to note is in the midst of it all: Everyday is a gift. And the joy of the Lord is and should always be your all-reliant strength, especially when it comes to raising kiddos.

Combined with the quote I wrote above, several months ago, I came into contact with the idea of a book by Sadie Robertson's mom, Korie Robertson (from Duck Dynasty). I haven't had the chance to get the book or read it yet, but it intrigues me. The title is "Strong & Kind," and it details the intentional traits she wanted to instill in her children from a young age, so that they one day would be able to navigate a tough world along with share the grace and goodness of the Holy Spirit within them with the world around them.

The quote.
The (idea of the) book.
All of this got me thinking and praying, "Lord, what intentional traits do you want me to instill, talk about, share with, model for, and pass on to my daughter?"

Here's the (working) list I've got so far.
Godly
Classy
Gracious
Kind
Wise
Generous
Lovely & Pure

I could go on and on about each one of these characteristics, why I think they are important, and how I plan to strategically and intentionally train them up in my daughter. I know that no excellent work is done on Earth without prayer. I ask that everyone reading this list will do two things. First, stop and pray that God would give me practical ways and special opportunities to make these special traits evident to my daughter. Second, consider what traits you want to pass on to your sons/daughters/ those under your guidance & being raised for the future generation.

Parenting, teaching, mentoring, modeling are all works of sacrifice and gifts that supersede price tags because they're gifts of time, energy, & love - all works of the heart. The goal is to completely burn oneself out, so that you can give a gift of life to someone else. One day, they won't rely on you as much as they do today. But do not fear a job well done. Be prepared for the difficulty of accepting success when it comes your way.

In the meantime, what are you intentionally spreading to the future generation within your life's grasp?

Wednesday's Wisdom, a few days late

This morning, I was reading I Samuel 1, and these thoughts came to mind.

Hannah's husband, Elkanah, gave her a double-portion of food out of his lavish love for her, but she was unable to eat because of the taunts of her rival.

Our Heavenly Husband has given us so very much out of His lavish love for us. What are you unable to feast on today because of the taunts of a rival, the comparisons of a companion, or the whispers of our Enemy?

Wednesday's Wisdom

I read this in a devotion book this morning and thought I would share..."Every single situation we will face this week is worthy of worship."

Every.
single. 
situation.
the good.
the bad.
the ugly.
the pretty.
the planned for.
the unplanned.
the fun surprises.
the unwanted nuisances.
the problems.
the solutions.
the unnerving times in between.
the things requiring patience.
the things you procrastinate.
the things you can easily and readily do "on your own."
the things that take only God's supernatural work, strength, power, love,  and grace.
This and so much more... is all worthy of worship. 

Wednesday's Wisdom

Listen to this beautiful song I just discovered (thanks to a friend)! Then, read my "Wednesday Wisdom" below. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGAzVbQC-18

Treat everything in life as an opportunity, not a right. Perspective changes everything from how you wake up in the morning to how you interact with others all throughout your day to how satisfied you feel at the end of every day.

Every day. Every moment in every day. Every breath that makes up every moment of every day is a God-given opportunity, not a right. Enjoy the disguised and undisguised blessings He sends you constantly and consistently.