{picture taken from here}

Guys, I seriously just got back from trading in a clean house for an afternoon run with the jogging stroller. Those of you who know me, know that this is a HUGE deal.

Liz exercising instead of cleaning....woah.

I think pigs just flew.

Anyway, why this sudden change in priority? Well it's pretty complex, but so wonderfully simple at the same time:

God is doing a big, huge work within my soul.

Over the past few months He has been chipping away at my priorities for myself and replacing them with His priorities. I have been praying for and listening to His guidance for my life and let me tell you, it is so freeing. I don't have to worry about each day and what needs to be accomplished in it?

Sign me up!!

As God shows me how to be a healthier version of myself (both mentally and physically) I am learning that His ways are just so much better for me.

His yoke is easy and His burden is light.--Matthew 11:30

You would think that after everything we went through trying to get pregnant with Daniel, I would trust in His plan...but I'm stupid. Plain and simple. And I don't trust that He has a better plan for me.

But guys, this time around, I'm so excited to listen. As I have started to pour out my heart to Him explaining all the desires of my heart, He listens. He listens and gently shows me that His way is just so much better.

I'm all ears Lord. Please continue to guide me! 

On Being Present

This morning, I spent some time thinking about what I wanted to blog about today. Having a schedule of posting only Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays should make it easy for me to come up with things to write about. Unfortunately, sometimes I just don't know what to say.

The house was quiet as I sat down to figure out what to blog about. The carpenter was off at church for the men's breakfast. Daniel and the dogs were both curled up and asleep. All that could be heard was the sound of the dryer turning semi-wet clothes.

*Pause...I need to go start the washer again!*

Ok, back at it.

As I'm perusing Facebook, trying to come up with post ideas, I stumble upon this video. Go ahead, watch it. I will wait. :)

Ok. Before you say, "Wait! There are plenty of good things that technology has to offer!" (i.e. being able to connect with people far away, being able to find old friends, etc.), let me just talk this out and share with you what I have been personally dealing with.

First off, I agree, there are so many good things about technology. Would I be writing a blog, on Facebook, part of Instagram, and pinning to Pinterest if I didn't agree? No. I love being able to keep up with people and see what is going on with those who don't live close to me. What I think this video is trying to tell us is to not neglect those who are physically near you. Don't trade in time with someone who is sitting in front of you, for time spent on an electronic device.

God has really been convicting me of this lately. Much of my day involves reading blogs, checking Facebook and Instagram, and watching a show or two with my husband after the baby is asleep. I have realized that I am loosing so much of my time with my son and my husband, to use some form of technology. Because of this I'm able to keep up on those who aren't near me, but instead am slowly becoming more and more out of touch with those who I can actually reach out and touch.

Does that make sense?

I'm not here to convict you. I'm just hear to share with you what the Lord is doing in me. Two of the books that I have been reading lately (read more on that here) have really been showing me that my focus is being shared lately. Elliot and Savage have both written about being present in people's lives. That if we are able to embrace the reality around us, our lives will be better for it. That we shouldn't share time between two things, because the reality is that neither is getting the full version of ourselves. I don't want my children, husband, family, or friends, knowing only the distracted Elizabeth. I would love them to know that they are the most important person in that moment and nothing can distract me from our time spent together.

With that being said, I'm off to spend the day with my boys. I'm challenging you to do the same! :)

On Perfection

The other day I was making our bed and noticed the way that the sun was streaming in through our window. I instantly thought about taking a picture and posting it on here. The way that the sun was hitting our nicely made bed, seemed to make the perfect picture.

But here is the thing. This picture makes it look like our bedroom is clean and all put together. I could post this picture and give the impression that my world is clean and organized. I could let you assume that I have it all together. That one simple picture could make you think so many different things.

But there is so much more that you don't see.

You don't see the pile of laundry that is just behind the headboard--I just easily moved my camera to block it out. You don't see the stack of pregnancy clothes that is sitting in the corner, waiting to be put away (for almost 3 months now). You don't see the stack of dirty dishes sitting in my kitchen sink (and all over my counter). And you don't see this:

or this:

See, it is so easy for a picture to give the impression that everything is perfect. That a person has everything together. That, even during a chaotic time in life, such as having a newborn, one can seemingly hold it all together. Yet, that really isn't the case.

Having a baby--and, well, also having the propensity to constantly challenge my unhealthy habits--has made me realize that my type A personality and slight OCD are a heavy burden to carry. Having everything clean and orderly isn't necessarily a good thing and only gives the outward appearance of being in control.

Hear my out for a second.

As I was staring at the first scene above--the one where light is filtering in through the window and everything is seemingly "perfect"-- I realized that perfection is only 'skin deep' so to speak. When someone posts a picture on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, we only see what they want us to see. The perfectly smiling child or the well kept house might look a little different if we were to get a glimpse of the whole picture. That child might have just stopped screaming after an hour of being unsettled and that perfectly kept house, in reality, is just a calm corner in the midst of chaos. We need to realize that what seems like perfection, might not always be.

Even more so, we need to stop using these false glimpses as a standard for our own personal lives. Finding the beauty in our everyday activities should be our goal. Trust me, there is so much good around us, we just need to learn to be aware of it and see it. 

I tend to expect too much from myself. When I make this huge list of unrealistic goals, and then don't accomplish them, I get really frustrated and beat myself up about it. If things aren't 'perfect' I get mad at myself and the negative self talk starts.  If someone comes over to our house and every space isn't spotless, I am ashamed. I set my expectations so high, only to never achieve them.

This needs to STOP.

In short: NONE of the above is important.

Rather, I should be looking for the perfection and beauty in my day as it happens. I should be focusing on snuggling my beautiful boy and watching him learn and grow, instead of worry about how clean my house is or if the files on my computer are organized. He is only this young once.  I really don't want to look back and think that I missed something about the process of him growing up.

If I wait for everything to be perfect, trying as hard as I can to get there, I am going to miss a lot, and will probably never actually get there.

There are so many more important things in life. Having a clean house is not one of them...

Today...

...I enjoyed snuggling with my little boy and wearing sweats all day. Daniel even participated by suiting up in his own Spongebob hoodie and sweat pants.

...Jonathan came home early and we had lots of fun watching movies as a family. RV and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were the feature presentations.

...I loved the fact that our weather boasted temperatures in the 60's with very low humidity. A welcome relief to yesterdays weather.

...our little boy took a very short morning nap and a very long afternoon nap.

...I thought a lot about whether this house is the one we will live in forever, or if we will look for something with more property someday. It is a big decision to make.

...we laughed a lot at our little dooders (our nickname for Daniel). He loves to smile, coo, and interact with us. I love this stage!

...I wanted to be intentional about enjoying the whole day for what it's worth. I'm trying this new thing where I look for the positive in everything and try to watch my reactions. Have you heard of this saying before, by Charles Swindoll:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.

Yup, I'm going to put this to the test. So far, it is so true.