The beauty and the detail

In Ann Voskamp's 10 Points of Joyful Parenting she writes  

Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies! Only amateurs hurry.

I am guilty of turning so many things into emergencies! and hurrying! So much wasted time and energy, taking me away from the parent I want to be, the person I want to be. So for the season of Lent I am committed to slowing down. Intentionally focusing on the beauty and the detail of this amazing world that God has given us to look after. If I drive everywhere, pushing the speed limit to get where I need to be on time, I am not paying attention. I am not breathing deeply, focusing on the moment. If I walk, I can feel the breeze in my hair and the sun on my face. I can watch birds splashing and bathing in the creek at the end of my road. I can observe the beautiful gardens that people have invested their love and energy, the colours, variety, the ornaments, the painstakingly mowed lawns.

When I walk I am in the now. So, I commit to leaving the car at home as often as is practical with a small child in tow. That means that I have to plan to do less. I am so guilty of packing my day full of 'things that just have to get done today'. Most of the time if I don't do those things I don't even notice! A maximum of two things that HAVE to get done, then I am at the mercy of the Lord. When I am slow I can hear what he wants me to do, where he is leading me. By speeding up, racing, hurrying, I am blocking out his voice, his influence. I lose my centre. With less to 'do' I can spend more conscious time with my children, I can spend more focused time in prayer. I will be more present and available to others in my life. And the more I slow down and can hear His voice, the more I understand how much he gave to me, to all of us.

Mega Memory final update!

I did it! Lord's Prayer Memorized! Thank you Ann for the motivation :)

Here is the proof: A video of myself and Zoe (nearly 6) reciting the Lord's Prayer :)

Showing my love

How do I show my love for my family? By folding their laundry! Whenever anyone needs a new t-shirt they can open their drawers and see my love in their beautifully folded clothes.

Artistic License

While Daddy was painting the bedroom, the kids wanted to paint too! We set up on the outdoor table, put down my oldest table cloth, mixed and stirred colours until they were just what we wanted and had a wonderful time!

Zoe wanted to paint with her hands today and mixed together every colour she could find. A beautiful clay like grey was the result...

which she then squished up into a ball!

Alex painted himself

Getting my memory mega!

So, I've decided on which version of The Lord's Prayer I am going to memorize. I've chosen the King James Version, simply because it is the one we used to recite when I was at primary school (for a few years anyway) and because of that it feels the most familiar and comforting. I started out by copying out the KJV from the internet and writing out the parts that felt the least familiar (so basically, I'm starting at the end!)and will work my way through. I will also be involving my family in this as well, and instead of just giving thanks at dinner time, we will say The Lord's Prayer also. And I think I just might get it memorized confidently by the end of January!

Mega Memory Month

A bit late to start I know, but I am doing Ann Kroeker's Mega Memory Month 2011! I am going to start by memorizing The Lord's Prayer. I have only been a Christian for 1 year 3 months and it is embarassing that my nearly 6 year old daughter can recite the whole thing and I get stuck toward the end. I would like to blame sleep deprivation (it's been one of those years where sleep hasn't really featured...) but I should know it. We recited it at every school assembly for half my primary school education! Once I've sorted that out (it won't take long) I would like to move on to Psalm 23. . I definitely want to start small, because I have trouble remembering my own phone number sometimes (lol!) but I want what I memorize to be really powerful and I think these two passages fit the bill! Wish me luck!
Clare