Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A bit of encouragement: Mothering

I read this on someone's blog and found it to be quite encouraging. Its a bit long, but worth the read.


Motherhood as a Mission Field
By: Rachel Jankovic
You can find the original post here.

There is a good old saying, perhaps only said by my Grandfather, that distance adds intrigue. It is certainly true — just think back to anything that has ever been distant from you that is now near. Your driver’s license. Marriage. Children. Things that used to seem so fascinating, but as they draw near become less mystical and more, well, real.

This same principle certainly applies to mission fields too. The closer you get to home, the less intriguing the work of sacrifice seems. As someone once said, “Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help Mom with the dishes.” When you are a mother at home with your children, the church is not clamoring for monthly ministry updates. When you talk to other believers, there is not any kind of awe about what you are sacrificing for the gospel. People are not pressing you for needs you might have, how they can pray for you. It does not feel intriguing, or glamorous. Your work is normal, because it is as close to home as you can possibly be. You have actually gone so far as to become home.

Home: The Headwaters of Mission

If you are a Christian woman who loves the Lord, the gospel is important to you. It is easy to become discouraged, thinking that the work you are doing does not matter much. If you were really doing something for Christ you would be out there, somewhere else, doing it. Even if you have a great perspective on your role in the kingdom, it is easy to lose sight of it in the mismatched socks, in the morning sickness, in the dirty dishes. It is easy to confuse intrigue with value, and begin viewing yourself as the least valuable part of the Church.

There are a number of ways in which mothers need to study their own roles, and begin to see them, not as boring and inconsequential, but as home, the headwaters of missions.
At the very heart of the gospel is sacrifice, and there is perhaps no occupation in the world so intrinsically sacrificial as motherhood. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to live the gospel. Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Motherhood provides you with an opportunity to lay down the things that you cannot keep on behalf of the people that you cannot lose. They are eternal souls, they are your children, they are your mission field.

Faith Makes the Small Offering Great

If you are like me, then you may be thinking “What did I ever give up for them? A desk job? Time at the gym? Extra spending money? My twenty- year- old figure? Some sleep?” Doesn’t seem like much when you put it next to the work of some of the great missionaries, people who gave their lives for the gospel.

Think about the feeding of the five thousand when the disciples went out and rounded up the food that was available. It wasn’t much. Some loaves. Some fish. Think of some woman pulling her fish out and handing it to one of the disciples. That had to have felt like a small offering. But the important thing about those loaves and those fishes was not how big they were when they were given, it was about whose hands they were given into. In the hands of the Lord, that offering was sufficient. It was more than sufficient. There were leftovers. Given in faith, even a small offering becomes great.

Look at your children in faith, and see how many people will be ministered to by your ministering to them. How many people will your children know in their lives? How many grandchildren are represented in the faces around your table now?

Gain What You Cannot Lose in Them

So, if mothers are strategically situated to impact missions so greatly, why do we see so little coming from it? I think the answer to this is quite simple: sin. Discontent, pettiness, selfishness, resentment. Christians often feel like the right thing to do is to be ashamed about what we have. We hear that quote of Jim Elliot’s and think that we ought to sell our homes and move to some place where they need the gospel.

But I’d like to challenge you to look at it differently. Giving up what you cannot keep does not mean giving up your home, or your job so you can go serve somewhere else. It is giving up yourself. Lay yourself down. Sacrifice yourself here, now. Cheerfully wipe the nose for the fiftieth time today. Make dinner again for the people who don’t like the green beans. Laugh when your plans are thwarted by a vomiting child. Lay yourself down for the people here with you, the people who annoy you, the people who get in your way, the people who take up so much of your time that you can’t read anymore. Rejoice in them. Sacrifice for them. Gain that which you cannot lose in them.

It is easy to think you have a heart for orphans on the other side of the world, but if you spend your time at home resenting the imposition your children are on you, you do not. You cannot have a heart for the gospel and a fussiness about your life at the same time. You will never make any difference there if you cannot be at peace here

God loves the little offerings. Given in faith, that plate of PB&J’s will feed thousands. Given in faith, those presents on Christmas morning will bring delight to more children than you can count. Offered with thankfulness, your work at home is only the beginning. Your laundry pile, selflessly tackled daily, will be used in the hands of God to clothe many. Do not think that your work does not matter. In God’s hands, it will be broken, and broken, and broken again, until all who have need of it have eaten and are satisfied. And even then, there will be leftovers.

Rachel Jankovic is a wife, homemaker, and mother. She is the author of "Loving the Little Years" and blogs at Femina. Her husband is Luke, and they have five children: Evangeline (5), Daphne (4), Chloe (2), Titus (2), and Blaire (5 months).

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Zoo


We took our zoo to visit the zoo! Here is Joel riding his favorite pet crocodile! Joel named the crocodile Crickey!
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Teapot Hill


Our first hike with Joel in the hiking backpack. He loved it! He even managed to fall asleep on the hike.
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Great Scot!

Our little man, in a kilt! Joel sure loved the Highland games. Especially the bagpipes! He was dancing the whole day (and this time, he wasn't beating his mom from the inside out!) People were constantly stopping us to take his photo and tell us how cute he was! By the end of the day, we were charging a fee to look at him!

An update on life

This month, so much has happened.
...so many things have changed in the lives of AmanDan and Joel.

We have become the proud new owners of the Purple People Eater, for lack of a better name. We have begun adjusting to the minivan ownership and all that it brings with it. We have enjoyed using it for two hikes, a trip to the parents house, and the Highland games. We still walk for everyday items from the grocery store, although that's been a bit difficult as we have three kids.

Oh, yah. Amanda is back to work for the month of June. Apparently, the other nanny had a mental breakdown, and Amanda was requested to begin working again. And since she is still waiting (3 months and counting) for the government to approve her continuing maternity leave, we decided to take the plunge and bump up the finances and start working. Its been a nice change of pace to be back at work. Cypress is a great help with Joel and River, well.....at least he's not that much of a challenge anymore. Its been great to have Joel in a more consistent routine since Cypress's preschool schedule has forced the napping and eating into set times.

Joel now has two teeth and is eating solids like a grown up. He sure loves anything that we eat, including Indian samosas, Chinese food, pizza, steak skewers, avocado.....oh, the list could go on. He has also started to become mobile. He doesn't quite crawl yet, but he does propel himself forward (and on some occasions backwards and under the couch!) He is also walking around the coffee table, but cannot pull himself up yet. He loves to walk when you hold his hands. Yesterday he walked almost all day at the Highland games.

Dan had a job interview the other day for a position at MEI Middle School. We hope that this will bring about a new job for him come September. We will find out later this week.

Add a trip to the zoo, a hike up Teapot Hill and to Lindeman Lake (with 3 kids, all under 5), the Highland Games, to your daily life and you'll have a glimpse of our lives over the past month. Its been busy, but good.  And its only about to get more adventurous. Bring on July!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

The buggy before the horse...

...or in our case, the car seat before the car. Actually, its not even a car. Its a van. And what better to go with Joel's new car seat, than a new van?!
We were lovingly gifted G-ma's old van, since she is no longer able to drive. So, after much contemplation, and a very selfish act of Amanda's mother, we accepted the generous donation. We would have preferred to continue to live without a vehicle, but basically my mom said that she is forcing us to take the van so that she doesn't have to come out and pick us up all the time. And for taking the van, she would lovingly gift us a half years worth of insurance. How could we refuse?? Actually, we did refuse, but my mother forced us to take it anyway. She said she was being selfish. We will gladly accept her selfishness.
We feel quite hesitant about owning a vehicle. In some small way, we feel like we are violating our own morals of car free living. I guess for us, the temptation is to fall into the pattern of using the car for daily living and give up on walking. But our intention is to continue to walk. To only use the van for long distance trips. (yah! camping! road trips! vancouver!) Groceries will continue to be hauled home by hand and cart! Trips to the mall will still be on foot (or by bike if we can manage)!
There is a part of us that feels like we are giving up that "Car-Free, Care-Free" mentality we had for almost 5 years. Without a vehicle, you don't have to worry about gas prices, break-downs (and the exorbitant costs), and the various other issues that crop up with owning a vehicle (you never get a speeding ticket on foot!) Its going to be interesting to see if we can stick to our walking ways, even with the possession of a vehicle.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

A day in my life

I decided that on Monday, I would record everything that I did in one day. I did it partly to show Dan why I'm so tired at the end of the day, and partly to brag to him about what I CAN do in one day (thanks to the 3 hour nap). It was quite amazing to quantify everything that I accomplished in one day. It also showed why I don't get MORE done in a day (yah, a whole hour of crying/snuggling) So I decided to share it with you. Please don't take this to be a regular day....the stars just happened to align and I got a lot done. The next day was full of tears (Joel's) and teething. Nothing else really got done. Believe me...I think I reheated a meal from the freezer to eat for dinner. 8:15 am I woke up to hear Joel munching around. I refused to get up quite yet (I just need those few extra minutes) and I know that Joel will go back to sleep 8:30 am I finally wake up (somewhat reluctantly) and start pumping while I watch some early morning tv (family feud anyone?) 9:15 am Finish pumping, clean up supplies, prepare for a shower 9:30 am Shower (oh glorious hot, hot water!) 9:45 am Breakfast, say good-bye to Dan 10:00 am Start first load of laundry, wash bottles, fill water glasses 10:15 am Wake up Joel, change his diaper and realize that he smells! Bathe Joel, lotion him, dress him and brush his hair 10:35 am Switch laundry to dryer, start second load 10:45 am Feed Joel, wash bottle 10:55 am Empty laundry rack, and hang non-dryerable laundry on drying rack, replace change pad cover since Joel peed on it earlier, get mail and read it 11:07 am Joel plays on play mat, I hand wash laundry (two sweaters) and salad spin it dry. Two breaks to change Joel to different activities, to help suffice him until I'm done 11:20 am Feed Joel, change him (second of the day), put him to bed 11:31 am Remove plastic wrappers from breast pads, prepare recycling to take across the hall while I... 11:39 am Switch laundry over, wash salad spinner, fold first load of laundry and put it away 11:52 am Make lunch, prepare pump 12:00 pm Watch news while eating lunch 12:10 pm Start pumping 12:40 pm Remove laundry from dryer, wash dishes, eat salad, fold laundry 1:15 pm Organize Joel's clothes (just had a baby shower, and need to organize sizes) 2:05 pm Joel wakes up, change diaper (#3), feed him 2:20 pm Back to organizing Joel's clothes, with a small break to answer the door and receive a package 2:45 pm Feed Joel, clean up last of laundry 3:05 pm Playtime with Joel (that didn't last long!), Feed again, He cries and teethes. I make a new bottle, and change diaper (#4) 4:06 pm Snuggles with Joel, intermittent crying, talk with Dan on the phone 4:30 pm Joel to bed, clean up last of laundry, fill water glasses again, clean bottles and pump from lunch 4:45pm Make dinner (throw leftovers in a pot soup), run dishwasher, clean up 5:00 pm Pump while menu planning for the week and creating shopping list 5:40 pm Relax...and stir the soup 4 times 6:00 pm Check email, wash pump and bottles 6:20 pm Dan comes home, Joel wakes up, diaper change (#5) 6:25 pm Diaper change (#6) Gotta love those surprise squirts 6:33 pm Eat dinner 6:46 pm Clean up dinner, talk with Dan and feed Joel, prepare to go out 7:22 pm Walk to grocery store and get groceries 8:42pm Return home, put away groceries, diaper change (#7) 9:03 pm Play with Joel, change him into PJ's, feed him, 9:33 pm Let the crying begin, intermittent with trying to feed him 10:47 pm Joel finally falls asleep, I quickly get ready for bed 11:00 pm In bed, and fall asleep in about 10 minutes

Thursday, March 31, 2011

It wasn't me!

 Honestly! I didn't do it! A complete change of clothes, new sheets, one bath, and a few tears later and Joel was back in bed. Good thing we cleaned all that puke off his face.

Bike Ride

 It was very evident what Joel thought about his first bike ride. Eventually he did calm down and actually fell asleep.

 We went for a quick ride around Fishtrap Creek. 
I actually took this picture while riding my bike. You can see that Joel seemed to calm down and started to enjoy it.

Free the Fridge Friday!

Its time to rid the fridge of those leftovers! Free the Fridge Friday is what its dubbed in our household. And in the words of 4 year old Cypress, "I like the way it sounds. But I don't like the way it tastes."