Wholewheat flour, oats, no eggs, no butter, and minimal sugar… a great treat for Baby S.  They’re good for adults, too, so don’t cheat yourself out of these healthy and wholesome snacks.  Just make sure to increase the amount of blueberries the recipe calls for… I did and the decision did not disappoint.

Go make yourself some.  They’ll put a smile on that sweet mug of yours.

1. Get your Nana to buy you the appropriate attire.

2. Be ridiculously cute.

3. Crawl.

I definitely have one; sometimes a good one, sometimes a rotten one.  So, I’ve decided to change how I view THE MESS.

Inspired by one of Simple Mom’s posts last week, I hung a few gentle reminders for myself in the places around the house I find myself grumbling most often.  Above the sink that is usually full of dishes for the lack of a dishwasher and right next to our infuriating 1-square-foot of counter space I hung this:

If the dishes weren’t piled up and the laundry wasn’t mounded for three days on the living room chair, if the carpet wasn’t dusted with dog hair 5 minutes after being vacuumed, if the kitchen floor was sparkly, if I got to complete every craft project I started and cross everything off my to-do list every day… that would mean one thing.  There would not be any of those dearest to me in my life.   It would mean no family meals to litter the kitchen, no boxers or baseball uniforms or cute baby girl clothes to fold up and put away, no zealously affectionate dogs to shush when the baby is sleeping, no family beach excursions to return from and traipse sand onto the kitchen floor.  This mess is their footprints.

This mess is evidence of a house well-eaten in, celebrated in, laughed in, cried in, slept in, woken-up early  in, relaxed in, worked in, loved in… evidence of a life full of precious people whose hearts were entrusted to me by the Creator of the universe.

Above the stove that I am usually hunched over at 5:00pm, hurried to prepare dinner for a tired, shriek-y 9-month old and a husband who insists on undressing in front of the open living room windows the instant he walks in the door yet, curiously, immediately goes into the bedroom to put on mesh shorts and a t-shirt, leaving his work clothes strewn across the couch I posed these questions to myself:

Seriously.  What am I communicating to my husband everyday as I bustle about managing the household?  What am I modeling to my daughter about the attitude with which a mother does her job?  Sometimes those are scary thoughts.  What memories am I making for my family?  What will they remember about how I portrayed the responsibility of taking care of everyone?

For the living room, I’ve got an idea for a painting – that if I ever actually get around to painting, I will be pleasantly surprised – to remind me to think of all the material chaos as “footprints” and to remember that my Jesus tells me, “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed” (Luke 10:41-42).  The Lord promises me that my plans will succeed if I commit whatever I do to Him (Proverbs 16:3).  Well, phew!  That’s a load off.

However, I know my flesh and I know it won’t be long before I forget this.  Hence, the visible reminders.  And all this is not to say that I will stop taking my job as a SAHM and household manager seriously.  Of course I will, I know what the Lord says about that (Proverbs 31) and I genuinely love my job.  I will always strive for excellence in what I do.  It isn’t my work ethic that needs bolstering, it’s my attitude that needs changing.

I want to remember what it means that I have THE MESS to deal with in the first place.  When I fall short of my goals and ideals, I want to remember that most often it is because I’m not the only person in my life that depends on me.  Hallelujah, what a gift!

The floors need mopping, the carpet needs vacuuming, the budget needs balancing, the errands need running, the Mama-daughter dresses are still on the machine, and we’re going out of town on Thursday.  But.  But!  I can justify this!!  Inspiration has hit and I’m treating my little family to a summery feast tonight:  cucumber-watermelon gazpacho and a Dr. Pepper pork roast.

While out to dinner with visiting family this weekend, I was inspired by Sermet (his cooking has been inspiring me since college) to tweak my own cucumber-watermelon gazpacho recipe.  I think this one at Epicurious is a great place to start since I’ve got everything but the celery.  Think I might sub celery seed and see what happens…

And I’ve got a random can of Dr. Pepper.  Hmm.  We never buy soda, so I’m not sure how this ended up in my fridge, but it’s going to be superb on the Boston Butt I found on sale at Publix this morning.  I’m going to try and make this work with my roast.

We’ll see how I fare…  Happy Tuesday!

Daddy,
Thank you for being the shining example of grace and forgiveness in my life.  I love you always and forever.
Happy 30th Father’s Day,
your little goomba

The years have been many, the years have been long.
But at last I’m returning to Daddy and home.
He’s looking my way, though he hardly can see.
God bless my old daddy, he recognize me.

There’s snow in his hair, and I helped to put it there,
A halo of worry and care.
As my daddy grows old, he’s more precious than gold.
For I cherish the snow in his hair.

His shoulders were bent with the weight of the years.
I scarcely could hold back the flood tide of tears.
He walked with a cane as he hurried along
to meet me,
to welcome me home.

There’s snow in his hair, and I helped to put it there,
A halo of worry and care.
As my daddy grows old, he’s more precious than gold.
For I cherish the snow in his hair.

“Snow in His Hair”
by Johnny Cash

“You were never meant to go through life by the skin of your teeth but to flourish in the love and acceptance of Almighty God.” – Beth Moore

]]> http://bellaguinness.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/inspiration-for-my-day/feed/ 0 bellaguinness 100_4871 100_4868 http://bellaguinness.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/my-first-granny-square/ http://bellaguinness.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/my-first-granny-square/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:44:29 +0000 bellaguinness http://bellaguinness.wordpress.com/?p=1088 ]]>

Yay – I finally learned to crochet!  And thank you, Ivy Mae, for being my life’s ever-willing fiber arts tutor extraordinaire.  Oh, where would I be without your expertise?

I like this yarn.  Ella Rae, 100% wool, though I don’t know the name of the color.  It was actually scrap yarn from my first ever knitting project.  I see more crochet projects looming on the horizon…  Yo-yos and flowers to adorn some onesies, perhaps?

It feels so good to finish a project.  Her little knitted dress is no longer a WIP.  Now I can finally move on to our Mama-daughter dresses!   But for today, I’m just going to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment… relish watching her get into mischief while wearing her new Mama-made frock.