Change really DOES happen

It is me -- the one who used to flop on the couch after work & think..."oh, what we will have for dinner?" and fall asleep. My new (at the time) husband would come home from work and find me there. Every day. "Do you take a nap every day?" We would deliberate about what to eat for dinner. There's nothing in the cupboard to make & it would take too long. After a l o o o n g time, we would often drive off to get something to eat.

Now, look, I make menu plans and actually assign what we'll eat to SPECIFIC days, such as Tacos on Tuesday. Yes, me? Can you believe it? Yes, I Miss-creative-non-domesticated-this is TOO-HARD-for-me-I-would-rather-nap-on-the-couch-Woman -- have been writing down a weekly meal plan for over a year now.... and I LOVE it ?!? And the weeks I don't have a plan. I miss my plan. It is CRAZY actually.

But it gives me hope. Hope that I can keep on changing in other areas, too.

Over the course of years (I have been married 17 years now, you know), I moved from no plan at all. To going grocery shopping every other week. To following the detailed once-a-month cookbook plan. To having on-hand ingredients to make specific meals (and still retaining that freedom, oh that delicious freedom, of deciding each day WHAT I would feel like eating because, come on now, I mean, how could I possibly know in advance that I would want Tacos on Tuesday and not Porkchop Romance? Ridiculous! I needed food freedom.) To... finally.... making a Weekly Meal Plan.

How did this free-flowing mama get from not wanting to assign food to a particular day to feeling giddy about the return of my Weekly Meal Plan?

What happened? (I mean, besides the embracing of life's duties as not-so-bad, gaining skills, and growing up into the responsible human being my parents trained me to be? Well...in addition to all that...) I read this:

"In many ways, a schedule can relieve stress from your life. When tasks become routine, they require much less physical and emotional energy. A normal day is easier to get through without having to make numerous draining decisions"...from The Managers of Their Homes by Steven and Teri Maxwell

And so it began: The beginning of The Weekly Menu Plan in an effort for less draining decisions in my day. (Click on the Grocery Cart Challenge for more inspiration. I use her menu plan template.) At first, I had to MAKE myself follow my own decisions. (Silly but true.) That first week, we ate dinner late a lot of nights (which isn't terribly unusual for us but it was still later than normal). But I stuck with it for several months. No grocery shopping until I had made The Plan.

And you know what I found? That the Food Freedom that I tenaciously clung to was NOT worth the Free Brain Space. It's rather remarkable how much time was taken up thinking: "What's for dinner? What will the children not complain about? What is in the cupboard? What would I like to have? What would hubby like? Do I have all the ingredients? Do I have enough time to make that?"

Now I have more space in my brain to make decisions about other equally important all-consuming things. . . like. . . what are we going to do today?

Those pesky little --- I mean BIG -- feelings just need to be ignored sometimes and duty embraced. And I will gain skill. And I will change...one little baby step at a time...over the course of many years. Change really DOES happen sometimes so there is hope for those other bad habits!

Oh, and for the curious, here is my After A Long Hiatus ((because I was in Minnesota for 3 weeks in May and hauling a piano to our house (which is now updated with a photo), among other things lately) Weekly Menu Plan:

Monday: Broccoli pasta (originally found through the Grocery Cart Challenge website)

Tuesday: Sausage & wild rice casserole (my own original recipe inspired from MN-made ingredients)

Wednesday: Grilled cheese sandwiches & Parmesan garlic broccoli, carrots & cauliflower bake

Thursday: Cold tuna pasta & bread (church has been giving away lots of yummy bread)

Friday: Pancakes & eggs (I'm off to dinner with some friends that night & this is a great meal for hubby & kids to make.)

Really, that wasn't so hard, was it? Sigh. So perhaps the other things won't be so hard, either!

Are there long-term changes you have seen in your life?

Kathleen

Lions, Mountaintops, and Rescued Faith




"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver, "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King; I tell you." from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

C.S. Lewis has been a favorite author of mine for a long-time. In college, his book Mere Christianity rescued my faith from a Philosophy of Religion class in a way that my friends and that my memorized Bible verses couldn't do. But, what put Lewis in extra high regard for me was the year that I read the Chronicles of Narnia out loud to my children the first time. It was my first year of homeschooling; I had a 6, 5 and 3 year old. In order to accommodate their different reading levels, I was reading separate books to each of them: Johnny Tremain and Heidi to the oldest, Cricket in Times Square to the next and picture books to the youngest (at the time). I would fall asleep reading. (My excuse then? I was pregnant. (No such excuse today but, I digress.))

And then, I pulled out The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and began to read. The three of them were spellbound. And so was I. And Lewis rose further in my esteem than he had been before. I didn't know that this was possible! I was staying awake, looking forward to reading aloud, was rescued from reading three different stories at a time, and given insight to mull over as I went about my day. Can you ask for more than that? (As an aside: I will say, though, that the three year old was engaged in the first book but didn't hang through the whole series until she was a little older.)

I'm looking forward to re-reading my top three favorites: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair. I will probably re-read the whole series; it just may or may not happen in July as part of this challenge.

The quote about not safe but good reminds me of the character of God (and also this post over HERE). I even used it as an analogy at Bible study when we were working through the fear of the Lord and what that is to look like. This image of the Beavers talking about Aslan came quickly to mind. Word pictures works so well.

And another favorite concept is from The Silver Chair.



"And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the Mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart. And pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters. " from the Silver Chair

Sometimes it seems so clear the directions from the Lord -- in a quiet time or at church. And then when I go to work it out in my daily life, it looks a lot different. Then, I am reminded of this things are muddier down here idea from Narnia and I am encouraged.

I'll be sharing some more insights as I go. Hope it encourages you to join us in the challenge.

Kathleen




The Us Box is Now Seventeen

Seventeen years married (or twenty-one knowing each other) sounds like a long time, but seems like a short time to be married to my best friend (got that great quote from someone I admire!) I love the smile and smirk captured on this photo. We have so much fun together. I can't imagine life without you.

October 2009

Christmas 2009

You introduced me to the magic of hats many years ago and they, too, have become an integral part of us. This shot reminds me of the MANY self-portrait shots we used to take. ("We like us and still do!) This one was actually taken by the First Born.

December 2009

One of two times my hair has ever been straightened. You looked at me the way I looked at you the first time you cut your hair -- SHOCKED!

November 2009

Twenty-three years ago, a mutual friend introduced us in college. (Don't I mean preschool? Certainly we're not this old!) Then a couple of years later we got to know each other: Resident Assistants on the same staff and a film class together. After a long walk to the Fryin' Pan for caramel rolls and a Jaeger family houseboat ride, "things" were never the same. After graduation, you went to Tennessee, I to Michigan. A year later, I followed you. Another year later, we were married.

Then the fun really began: doing errands together -- laundromat, groceries, hardware -- and hanging out together alone and with friends -- music team, community groups, sand volleyball, road trips. After five years of "just us," along came baby number One and before we'd fully adjusted to being parents baby number Two was here and not long after, number THREE was too. A few years later we added number Four. And now we've been married longer with kids than without.

And through it all we've maintained the Us Box. You're my best friend, my confidant, my husband.

Especially in light of my sister's loss a few weeks ago, I'm especially grateful for the amount of years we've had together.

With love & gratitude,
Wifey

Coming Soon

We had a fun day today viewing Toy Story 3 with our three nephews who are here spending a week with us. Hence the lack of posts. I have some posts floating in my mind that will be coming soon.

What's on my nightstand?

No not all of these are on my nightstand! Whew! But one day
I would like to say that I have read all of the books on these shelves
(and before the First Born).
Right now I have read about 75% of them.

Over the weekend, we had out-of-town friends visit. I noticed that their son went to the car to get a book. I thought to myself, "I'm not reading any books. I don't have any books on my to read list."

Now why it took another person's son to reveal this to me is interesting since everywhere I go... and I mean everywhere...my children read...at the ball game (except the one playing baseball), at the oil change place, in the car going anywhere (even for a few moments down the road), in their beds, at the breakfast table. My children constantly have their noses in books. We even recently had two different people give us large stacks of books because my children are reading all of the time. But it must have been the newness of seeing someone else reading that triggered my compulsion to build a stack of books on my own nightstand. And then I discovered this:

And so I am joining in (albeit a day late):

On my 'nightstand':

1) Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, complete and unabridged. I read more books than my husband but this is one that he has read that I haven't. My oldest son and I are in a competition to be the one who has read ALL of the books on our bookshelves in our dining room (yep, almost every room in the house has bookshelves). And so this one must be conquered. Plus, I was recently reading on a blog somewhere about someone reading this book out loud to their children and everyone enjoying it. So that motivated me to pick it up.

2) John Newton by Aitken I purchased this at a Carole Joy Seid Homeschool Seminar (which I highly recommend if you are homeschooling or thinking about it). I have enjoyed all of the books she has recommended. I'm not sure why this one has gone unread. So now it too is in my newly-made stack to read.

3) Nick of Time by Ted Bell. I have chosen this book for two reasons. Last November, my sister-in-law and I were on a road trip to Chicago and started to listen to this audio book (and then I fell asleep; no worries, she was driving). The second reason is that my oldest son has read it and loved it. And so I want to read it, too.

4) Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. I am going to participate in this July challenge. My goal is to re-read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair. These three are my favorites. If I read through them quickly or just feel the urge, I may just read them all.

I know that I'll be blogging for sure about the Chronicles of Narnia as part of that challenge. And perhaps the others, too.

What are you reading this summer? Or do you have any good recommendations once I am finished with these?

Love, Kathleen

An Invitation for You


Do you need some summer reading? Or need an incentive to read?

I just heard about this new reading challenge from my friend Stephanie at Olive Tree (but is being hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know with a give-away involved.) This is right up my alley. I will be participating because The Chronicles of Narnia are on the top of my list of very favorite books in the world. I was just thinking that I needed to be reading some books. Most of my reading lately has been blogs. Which is nice. But I can't snuggle up with it in bed (no laptop). But a blog is just not the same as a book or two. This is perfect timing for me and I wanted to extend the invitation for anyone else that might need/want it, too.

So for all you Narnia & Lewis fans, come along and sign up. And if you haven't ever read them, join us and see what it is all about.

It will be fun!




The Aftermath

Here are the pictures of "Lake Target" (taken the Day After the Big Rains & which is only 1.5 miles from our home) and some of the destruction of houses near our church (taken one week after The Flooding on Mother's Day).

The top picture is from the apartments of two families from our church that were only able to get out with the clothing on their backs. The building was condemned so both families had to relocate (instead of go back to a restored unit). They were the recipients of many donations to refurbish their apartments. The generosity and love and support from people that comes out of crisis inspires me. And is one of the good things that comes out of the hard thing.

It reminds me that "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28. We wouldn't choose the hard things in our lives. When the hard 'thing' is upon us, it is often difficult to see the good coming out of it. Don't you agree?

Have you been able to see any good come out of a hard time in your life?