How to serve with my littles (while still serving my littles)

Part 1

I don't know where to begin. I don't really know what brought me here. I just have a lot of thoughts in my brain and a LOT of feelings in my heart and I just felt like I needed to come here and process. Because I feel overwhelmed. And bored. And like...God is calling me to serve Him by being Jesus' hands and feet. Not just by serving Dave, or Finn, or Piper, or our fellow Stinters....

but how?

How, where do I serve with a two year old a six month old in tow? Every time I come back to this question. And here are a few of the things I've thought of...

Pray. I'm at home, I've got time, I've got passion. Pray for people who are serving and that God would call more to serve and more to Himself. Pray for the orphaned and the oppressed. 

Save. Save money through living frugally. 

Give. Give to organizations that we believe in, people we believe in...give!!!!

I am thankful for those opportunities and I believe in them. But....is there more I can do? Even with my littles? I think they would be so blessed to live a life of humble service and I know I would be, too. So here I am again...but now we've got a car (vs in East Asia) and I am ready to pray and ask the Lord if He would point us in the right direction. I want to serve Jesus and teach my kids that serving and loving other people is way more fun and awesome than almost any other way we can fill our time.

How do you serve God, right in the season you're in? and how do you involve your littles?

(and may I note....there is NO condemnation in Christ Jesus! Today I brushed both kids' hair and it was like, the biggest victory ever- I have officially arrived. We are all just doing our best (and doing great by God's grace) as we lean into Him- so if you don't have the time or the energy to do any of this stuff, praise God! but as we seek to live for Him and love Him, may we be growing in being on the lookout to be a means of blessing to everyone, and especially to the least.)

(maybe someday I'll write a post about the brokenness in third world countries and how we do something here...that is the other BURNING, yearning, big ache in my heart...)

One more song

Every day at dinner, Dave asks me (assuming that I'm at the dinner table... and not sequestered in the bedroom feeding Piper ;)) about the highlight of my day. And every day I'm struck by my full cup, by the many moments that make up a day, by the beauty of being alive and the amazing blessing of being a mommy. But all that being said, every day there are two moments that are two of my favorites each day...the beginning and the end. Each morning at some early hour I get to feed Piper in the quiet as it starts to get light outside...and at some point I hear Finn wake up and start talking and singing in his crib. It is sweet to this mama's heart and just a beautiful, peaceful time of day. And then there's the end of the day...Finn's day anyway. Our bedtime ritual is to brush teeth, tuck into the sleep sack, read the Bible, and turn off the lights for prayer and singing. Oh my heart! We turn off the lights and Finn snuggles up in my lap and I pray for him and then sing. I sing lots of different songs...but every night we close with the song "Baby Mine" from Dumbo (it's been "our song" since pretty much day one...I can't watch the video without crying!) Anyways, some nights we sing more songs than others. There are plenty of nights when I am just pooped, but I really try to take that time to STOP and take a deep breath, talk to God and snuggle with my boy. But some nights it's Baby Mine verses one and three and then I'm out. ;) Tonight, after a couple of songs (including Baby Mine) I said good night and went in for the goodnight kiss...and out came the oh so predictable "one mowa sawng?" (aka "one more song", my best typing imitation of Finn's cuteness.) And it just struck me in that moment, how there would be no better decision than to sing one more song, how the dishes could wait and I could bless Finn and bless God's heart and squeeze life and joy out of this day by just singing one more song. By God's grace, tonight I chose to sing one more song and a few more minutes of snuggling and I just know that I'll never regret choices like that. Life is made of those kind of decisions, decisions to play and hug and pause and laugh.

Abba Daddy, help me remember and choose You and choose joy for Your glory! Amen.

P.S. For your viewing pleasure...the "Baby Mine" video. Don't worry if you cry your eyes out, it's a perfectly normal side effect.

My babies!

Dessert, anyone?

It's pretty rare for me to make dessert. I just don't have the self-discipline for it; why make something yummy and bad for me and have it sitting around my kitchen? However, yesterday at the fruit and veggie market I saw something peach-like and just felt like it was decided: I needed to try to make peach cobbler. But the compromise (and fun part) was that I was going to try to make it as healthy as possible. The result? Pure gooey yumminess. Here's a "recipe"...sort of.

I started by cutting up a bunch of little peachies (I cut them into cubes-ish). Most recipes call for sugar to be added to them, I added a little bit of honey. I made sure to keep all the juice that had leaked out while I cut them and between that and a bit of honey, it was nice and juicy. I let that sit in the fridge for the afternoon. I then used this recipe for the topping:
1 cup white sugar
1/4  tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup whole wheat flower
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
(the recipe also called for 1/2 cup butter melted on the bottom of the pan. I put about a tablespoon, next time I'll nix it altogether).
I halved this recipe because I didn't have the 4-5 cups of sliced peaches called for. I let it bake for 180 degrees Celsius (350 F). And it was really amazing. Next time I will cut further down on the sugar but I didn't dare because it was the first time. My goal (read: this way I can eat peach cobbler for breakfast ;)) is to use coconut sugar, thus making this honestly a almost healthy snack.

Okay so apparently I have had a bit of a sweet tooth the past few days, because I also made popsicles for the first time a couple of days ago (I made a spur of the moment buy at a store a few years ago and bought a popsicle mold for about $1.50- this is the first time I used it!) I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs, www.weelicious.com. Here's a link to the recipe:
http://weelicious.com/2012/06/07/fruity-lemonade-ice-pops/

I think the most exciting thing about these to me was the lemonade base: squeezed lemon, water, and honey! Brilliant! Again, not following the recipe, I approximated and the result was sweet lemonade goodness. We had some kiwis that needed to be used immediately so I plopped some little kiwi chunks into the popsicle mold and then poured the lemonade in and left them overnight. The next morning after some struggling to get those little pops out Dave had two with breakfast and declared them delish. A little sour and a lot yummy. Finn loved them too, and I'm excited to make lots of different popsicles this summer.

Bring on the dessert!

Do you have a favorite "healthy" dessert? I'd love to hear about it and see the recipe!

A Full Life

As I was praying through different roles and passions and interests that the Lord has given me as I've been growing into the person He created me to be, I felt
a) inspired and grateful. Woe to me if I ever say I don't have anything to do! There is so much to do, to explore, so many ways to grow and have fun and worship God.
b) overwhelmed. Like the old saying, "her eyes were bigger than her stomach"...sometimes my heart feels so filled with passion and I'm not sure where to put it!
c) my need for the Holy Spirit. I am daily becoming more convinced that as Christians, if we want to live for Jesus, we need the Holy Spirit desperately. 

So anyways, as I looked at my lists (Roles, Passions, Interests), I felt like the thing that they had in common was...life. My life (Jesus follower, wife, mama, etc); things that I feel like enhance life (real food, music, books, for example); and the protection and provision for human life (pro-life and adoption). 

I thought this blog could serve as a place for me explore and process through the longings God puts in my heart, the things He teaches me and some fun stuff along the way. All glory to Him!

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10