Are we there yet?

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I love the image of Mary riding a donkey.  I wonder what it was like for Mary the last week of her pregnancy?  I did have a December baby and getting ready for Christmas that year was tough.  I had planned ahead so much yet it was not enough.  I still felt rushed.  The Christmas celebration had not turned out the way I wanted.   I took the Christ out of Christmas that year–not intentionally it just sort of happened. 

I have a pregnant Mary riding a donkey with Joseph carved of wood and it lives year round on my dresser so that I can have a constant reminder of her journey.  I have random thoughts during the year–what did they eat, how long was the journey, as a pregnant woman where did she go to the bathroom (50 times a day), riding a donkey or even walking during the last week as that baby is getting ready to pop out . . . or was Jesus breech–uuggh  I remember that feeling.  Was the donkey a nice donkey or one with an attitude.  When Eric and I travel we have “travel rules” and I wonder if Mary and Joseph had them too? 

Thank you Mary for saying “yes” to God.  Help me during my day to say “yes” hundreds of times joyfully.  Mary help me also understand when I need say “yes” to slowing down so that I may rejoice in how God is working in all of our lives. 

Should have called her Joy!

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Happy Birthday my sweet Olivia!

I look at Olivia and I see joy.  I see curiosity, I see helpfulness, I see a love for animals, I see a girl who loves to make things–just to make them, I see a need to be just who she is!

Olivia seeks truth and speaks it–even if it hurts the listener.  Olivia does what Olivia wants to do and she is willing to pay the price for not being a follower.

Olivia is organized, plans AND then gets everyone to follow her idea.  I remember when I had lunch duty and Joseph was in 2nd grade–Olivia created the slide game where she picked out who would go down and in what order–and they did it–happily.

I remember the moment I found out I was pregnant–I kept it a secret–partly out of fear (I did not want to lose another baby) and partly because I wanted to hold onto every single moment.  My fears quickly went away when I gave Eric his birthday present–a box that had a tiny piece of paper that said we were having another baby!  He was overjoyed and amazed that I could have kept it a secret.  I wore purple that pregnancy.  We bought the cabin that year and Eric spent 3 months in Japan and came home two weeks before she was born.

When Olivia was born she changed all our lives.  Charlotte had a best friend that she would discover in 6 years, Joseph had the playmate he always wanted and would discover that Olivia would help him, play with him and be a huge encouragement in 6 years,  Eric would find a baby that adored him and he couldn’t help stopping whatever he was doing for her (partly because she wouldn’t allow anything else but his full attention).  As I held my baby for the first time I had no idea that she would be so inspiring and provide others with the energy to continue the task at hand.  Olivia is equal amounts of peacefulness and intensity.

I am so blessed. She is so wonderfully made and Joy-filled. Maybe we should have called her Joy!

Thank you God for allowing me to raise up this beautiful girl to serve you.

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My Laundry Room

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We have lived so many places I have had to adjust, shift and squeeze my laundry system.  In our smallest condo we had the biggest space!  Dallas I had a laundry closet in the kitchen!  In California I had a laundry closet and I had the washer and dryer stacked to have more room– when we bought the house we had zero money left over, so it was a  cat room for a long time and I painted it a turquoise.  In our Ann Arbor home we had a laundry room and I had The Closet Company put up shelving and cupboards above the washer and dryer–for this project I thought I did a great job of planning–I talked with several Moms with lots of kids and had a great design–every kid had their own spot for shoes, coats and backpacks.  And now once again I have had to get acquainted with how the laundry room in this house will be used.  It is not really a laundry room but more of a laundry hallway–if you can call it a hallway, maybe entrance way, or area where you walk into the house through the garage.  It is a smallish space for the amount of activity that happens.  The washer and dryer are on one side and on the other side in a pantry.
When we moved into this house we had a washer that worked but not a dryer–so the dryer became a shelf.  It was a small pile at first and then it grew.  Once the water park opened up a mere 8 houses away–it held swim gear for the 6 of us plus extra suits, towels x2 per person, swim diapers, a pool bag, floaty things and pool toys.  It kept morphing and growing until it grew so high that I needed to get a stool to reach things.  It became the area for “anything” summer related.  Did I mention that it still was the home for Luke’s changing table?  Luke is potty trained but the dryer just didn’t look like a dryer if it didn’t also double as a changing table.

With the old dryer gone and a new one in place–I made the washer and dryer the same height and now have a system.  I run a load of clothes when it needs it and then once it is dry I sort by person and then when the bin gets full that person folds and puts away their clothes.  Charlotte is really the one who does the washing, drying and sorting of the clothes but I get the assist.  We may do two loads in one day and we often skip days. 

What I love is that the laundry is contained.  All the laundry has a home.  Everyone is responsible for their own stuff and I’m loving that.  I used to do laundry once a week and it was a daunting task but now I feel like it is doable.  I don’t have tons of laundry piled up and the laundry is contained in a manageable workload for the kids.  The girls wear uniforms but not enough to get through the week so we often pull from the bins which is less to fold and put away. 

For right now this system seems to be working.  I can change it if need be but I am excited that I finally have a system that works after trying so many other ways of doing laundry. 

God thank you for my washer and dryer.  Thank God for the man or woman who thought up the idea and built the first washer and dryer.   Thank you God for providing such a never ending tasks to keep our hands busy and our minds set on you.