Faith

I Survived Week 1 of the Social Media Fast!

March 13, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Cooking, Faith, Food & Drink, Life Leave a Comment

I’ll admit, the title is a bit more dramatic than what it was like in reality. I didn’t just survive, I thrived during my first week of the SM fast! I couldn’t have asked for something more wonderful to come into my life at this point in 2019.
I am dealing with some personal, emotional and spiritual struggles, and this is exactly what I needed. Instead of getting lost in the scroll of social media, I am forcing myself to get lost in Jesus. Instead of forgetting about my woes and cares, I am continually thrusting them at the cross. Instead of filling my ‘down time’ with that which doesn’t really matter, I am filling my heart and soul with the One who does.

There is only one ‘thing’ that can wholly fill all the voids in our lives and it’s Jesus. There is only one ‘thing’ that can take all the hurt, pain, sorrow and disappointments and in turn, give you peace and joy and that’s Jesus. He doesn’t compare you with everyone else. He doesn’t look at you and see all your faults and the poor choices you’ve made. He looks at you with immense love and the deepest care you’ve ever known. These are the things I’ve been reminding myself of the last week. The truths of God’s word, what he says about me, what he says about Jesus.
“So keep my words in your hearts and minds. Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder.” Deuteronomy 11:18

And as a follow-up to my post the other day, when I was just a couple of days into this fast…here’s what I’ve been doing the past week:
*Figuring out Summer Camps for Reynolds. Y’all, there are so.many.things going on for kids in Columbia! All the options are really great, I just need to figure out which camps will be the best for him.
*Prepping for BLEU!! In less than a week, sweet Bleu will join our family. I’ve made his first vet appointment, purchased his crate, dog food, treats, and all the fun things you need for a new puppy. I think we are mostly ready to bring him home!
*I’ve also sorted through some more of my clothes and given some to a friend and packaged others off to ThredUP.
*On Monday I made this amazing Heavenly Chicken Lasagna for us and a friend and it was AMAZING. I can’t tell you the last time I spent two hours in the kitchen cooking {and enjoyed it}, but this was a fast two hours and it was incredibly rewarding to be able to provide a meal to a sweet friend {and her three kids, while her hubby is out of town} and us that night. My kids loved it – aside from the filling of cheeses/spinach – and both Andrew and I found it to be completely delicious. Make it…you’ll love it too!
*Lastly, like many of you, we are in the throes of baseball season! ALLLLLLL the games and practices!

Friends, this is a beautiful time of year; Spring is ALWAYS my favorite season with the promise of NEWness and LIFE. Daffodils have awakened from the cold earth and shown their brilliance and our peach tree is busting forth her blossoms that will change over to little peaches in just a matter of time.

Take it all in…take in the colors, the smells, the sounds of baby birds chirping their little hearts out. Next Wednesday is the first official day of Spring and I pray that as this new season comes upon us, that you will experience newness in your beautiful life.

Before I leave you today, a little excerpt from my Birthday Card from God book: If you’re carrying a burden, unload it right here. Right now. I can handle it. -taken from Psalm 55:22
Until next time, sweet friends…

Social Media Fast :: Week 1 Day 2

March 7, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Faith, Life Leave a Comment

I know you’re wondering if I’m actually doing this Social Media Fast…

I AM!!!
I am happy to report that I have only looked at Facebook 4 times – specifically to post on both mine and Andrew’s business pages AND to check up on my Fall Prebook for Sseko. I have also only looked at Instagram ONLY to check messages {I had 3 yesterday} and to post a daily devotional piece in my Instastory {so two times}.

Other than that, no mindless scrolling and getting lost in all the things that distract me from LIFE.

What have I done with this newfound time? I’ve talked to people. lol. I’ve texted friends, I’ve talked on the phone, I’ve talked to my husband and my kids. I’ve read emails that have just been pushed to the side. I’ve READ. I’ve organized a little more in our home. I’ve done things I’ve wanted to do, rather than gotten lost in the cyber stuff.

Benefits I’ve noticed in just two days:
1. I have no idea of what’s going on in the “world” and I like it. I’m not caught up in what everyone else is doing.
2. I’m not wasting time, that is often so precious.
3. I’m not distracted when my kids are around, by things that are less important. I’m being a present parent.
4. I’m not comparing…ah, that’s a big one, am I right?

Negatives I’ve noticed:
1. I have no idea of what’s going on in the world, and I feel a wee-bit left out.
2. There are things I actually want to share with people. Ha. Like my tire went flat this morning while going thru the car line at R’s school. #goodtimes
3. There’s this community within the social media realm, that I have found is bigger than my real-life community. I’m currently missing those people/relationships.

Andrew asked me at supper tonight what day I was on, and when proudly chirped “TWO!”, he was surprised and said he thought it had been longer than that already. Nope. Two days down….38 to go. My nail lady said yesterday morning that you have to give up something ‘hard’ for Lent. If it’s not hard, it’s not worth it. I know that this is hard for me. My automatic reaction to sitting down somewhere with my phone in hand is to tap Instagram first, and then Facebook. So to refrain from that has been difficult. I’m having to change my habits, I’m having to look around a lot more, and observe, and talk out loud. :)

This is going to be a very, very good thing I believe. And I hope that if you’re giving up social media, or chocolate or caffeine or something else for 40 days, that you are also finding it to be a very good thing…albeit hard temporarily. We can do this. Phil 4:13.

I’ll leave you with yet another quote from my little Birthday Card book:
“Stuff is overrated. Stuff doesn’t last. Everything in this world – even the world itself – is temporary.”
Until next time, my friends…

Update On Our Puppy And…A Social Media Fast?

March 5, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Faith, Life Leave a Comment

Hi Friends! I hope you’re all having a great week. It’s cold and yucky here today, but the birds are chirping outside so that means Spring is almost here, right?! I’m ready for all the 70-degree weather that Mother Nature can offer. Seriously.

So, last week I announced that we are going to be getting a puppy {in 3 weeks!!} and that we weren’t sure which puppy we would be getting, but hoped to know by the end of the week. Well, after driving Andrew completely bonkers for 3 days, asking if he’d gotten an email yet from our breeder about our puppy, he finally emailed her. :)
The family in line above us hadn’t made their pick, so we were waiting on them.

Then Saturday rolled around and we were driving around looking at houses and it came. Andrew passed me the phone so I could read the email.

The family in front of us had passed on a puppy this time {not sure why, maybe they wanted a ‘red’ girl?}, and our choices were:
Red Boy – remember he was the one Reynolds REALLY wanted
Turquoise Girl – all black with a little white on her paws
Blue Boy – the sweet baby that fell asleep on my lap during our visit last Tuesday

We got to the house we were looking at and I had a fun conversation with Reynolds about our options. It went like this:
Me: Reynolds, which puppy do you want?
R: Red boy or Blue boy
Me: Why do you want Red Boy?
R: Because in the video we watched it looked like he got electrocuted {he was stretching :-D}
Me: {lauging} Okay, why do you want Blue Boy?
R: Because he looks like a police dog and I like police dogs
We talked about how police dogs are German Shepherds and that this dog is not a GS…but he was not swayed.
Then we talked about how he could only pick ONE puppy. Red boy or Blue boy. Eliza Jane piped in a few times about how she wanted Pink girl or Flower girl or Teal girl…but knowing that this dog is primarily going to be R’s responsibility, we gave him the choice.

ONE choice.
Red boy or Blue boy.

Who did he pick?

He surprised us all and chose BLUE BOY! We are so excited! We are going to call him Bleu {French for ‘Blue’…I know, we are SO fancy.} I mean, that was better than ‘Police Dog’ which was an actual suggestion by one of the kids…

Eliza Jane was not thrilled with the decision to get a BOY dog…but she will live.

Bless her heart…sweet girl…I’m sure once she holds Bleu she will be just as smitten with him as we are.

Okay…so switching gears for a moment. Y’all know about the 40 day Sugar Fast I did last year and this year. If you didn’t know about that, read this post from last year about it. This year I wasn’t as strict on myself, and I probably didn’t do as well, but I still survived!

Well, in January or so I had been thinking about doing a social media fast during Lent. Then Wendy Speake – brain child of the 40 day sugar fast – announced that she would be doing a Social Media Fast during Lent!

Y’all…it just has to be. How many days do you/we get on Facebook, Instagram or whatever and just scroll? Every time I get in the car {when I’m not driving of course}, I open up something and just start scrolling. It’s ridiculous. My kids are calling my name, and I’m all like, “hold on a sec…” because whatever it is I’m looking at is somehow so much more important. How about all the things I could be doing that are more productive in my home, my quiet time, my time with my husband/kids/friends. I’m telling you. My life is a giant scroll and I don’t want it to be that way.

So I’m doing it. Starting tomorrow, March 6th, my social media time is going to be seriously limited. Unless there’s a purpose {which, if I’m completely honest, how often is there a REAL purpose?}, I’m not getting on. No more looking to see what’s going on in the world, when there’s a world right in front of my face. Waiting for me to behold.

If you’re following me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ll see much less from me over the coming weeks {maybe you’re happy about that? haha. I hope not!}. That doesn’t mean I don’t love you or want to know what’s going on in your life, because I do. But I want my contact with you and others to be outside of social media. I want it to be REAL. So, if you don’t know how to reach me – email, text, phone {do people call each other anymore, anyway?}, let me know and I’ll get you my info.

My deepest desire over the next 40 days is to be present. Present with my family, my friends, whomever it is I am with in the moment. And to draw closer to my Lord, the lover of my soul.
If you want to join the Social Media fast with me, click here to find out more from Wendy: The 40 Day Social Media Fast.

I’m excited to see what happens over the next 40 days. Of course I’ll be writing, maybe even more with all my new-found time!
Today I’ll leave you with a little quote from my Birthday Card Book: You are worth celebrating. A masterpiece created to do great things.
Until next time…

Finding Peace

February 21, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Faith, Life 2 Comments

Do you have a word of the year?
Around New Year’s, when everyone was posting about their top 9 photos from 2018 and resolutions/goals for 2019, I was also seeing posts about finding your ‘word of the year’. One friend even linked DaySpring’s quiz so that you could discover your own word for 2019.

Like any curious person, of course I took the quiz myself and discovered my word for 2019 is ‘Peace’. In the moment I thought that was an odd word, and being unhappy about my result, I attempted to take the quiz again. I even changed up some of my answers {just call me sneaky}. And guess what?
I got the SAME result. hmmm.
Now feeling like this was providence and not just randomness, I decided to embrace the word and try to understand why peace would be my word for 2019.

Fast forward to yesterday morning, after having dropped off my oldest child at school, I was driving away listening to a local Christian radio station. The morning show team was discussing their word of the year and as I thought on the conversation, I went back to my word: Peace.

Why had that word been chosen for me? I certainly believe it was chosen for me. I obviously didn’t pick it – I wanted to change it. I probably would have picked some other fun word like joy or gratitude, but this word – Peace – was for me.

Peace.

Some of the definitions of this mysterious word, according to Merriam-Webster are:
*a state of tranquility or quiet
*freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
*harmony in personal relations
*in a state of concord or tranquility

Not that I have come to some sort of extensive realization about my life + peace, but there are some things that have gained clarity for me in this second month of this new year…

I have been lacking peace. Genuine peace.
There’s been a lot of turmoil in my personal life…relationships that have been frazzled and torn, especially over the past year.
My spirit has been downcast and and troubled for some time, and I think I’ve tried to suppress it with filling my time with stuff/keeping busy.
Also, a lot of changes swept into my world last year, in a very short period of time, causing much restlessness and sadness.

So, yes, there is a great need for peace in my life. Peace that passes ALL understanding, and the lack thereof as well.
In looking at the definitions of peace, my life has been the complete opposite of those words so I can more clearly now see WHY peace may have been chosen for me.

Yesterday morning after I got back home and was pondering peace, I looked the word up on Biblegateway.com…what were some verses that could point me closer to finding peace?
There are a lot. ha. The Lord does not lack talking about or showing peace, throughout the scriptures. One verse in Romans in particular stands out to me: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13.

Dear friend, if you are like me, and lacking in peace today, may you cling to this verse as I am. Let us be filled with hope, joy and peace as we trust in Him, the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2).
Until next time…

Needing Jesus

July 2, 2017 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Faith, Life, Marriage Leave a Comment

(Reader’s note: this was written originally last Monday, 6/26…but this is how long it takes me to finish things these days… ☹)

I always think it’s funny when something happens by “coincidence”.
I just happened to forget I wasn’t supposed to take a lunch today, and ran an errand to Trader Joe’s. Then I happened to run home to drop off all my goods, etc. and strolled around my house to see what the cleaning lady did while she was there this morning (it’s always fun to see how she reorganizes things!!).
Then I happened to get a notification that a sweet girl, that I’ve known from way-back-when, Jess Connolly, was doing a live video on Instagram.
And I happened to turn on my car’s blue tooth so I could listen in on her little video.

Jess’ husband worked in my office, what seems like, a million years ago. Back when he was this sweet guy dreaming of marrying this gorgeous gal named Jess.
Dreams do come true.

They have an amazing ministry…she’s killing it all over the place – praise be to Jesus alone, I know she would say.

So here I was in my car listening to her pouring out her heart about being “Expectant” about all things Jesus…which includes us as fallen humans and how we can be expectant to still need him and she said this one thing that I repeated over and over in my head until I got to a stop light and could email it to myself so I didn’t forget!
“What if..you still needed Jesus?”
She was recalling a conversation she had with a dear friend of hers from the other day, about all these things we plan out and set out as goals etc. And she said something like, But what if, at the end of all the planning and goal-setting that we still needed Jesus.
I sat there thinking, that’s mind-boggling to me. We DO need Jesus. But do we admit that in the every minute – every day?

What if, in your every day, everything, you still needed Jesus.
Instead of thinking, I’ve got this. I’ve got all these things to do in XXX time, or whatever, what if you still needed Jesus.
What about this moment, this day, this week…would be different?
What if you acknowledged that you still NEEDED Jesus. Needed Him like you need breath. Every moment of every hour.
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” The Psalmist says (Ps. 42:1).
What if that were true.
How would your thoughts be different.
How would your words be different.
How would your heart be different.

How would your hopes be different.
How would your perspective change.
Would you have more peace?
Would you have more joy?
Would you lay all the burdens down at the Savior’s feet and leave them there?
Would you, like Mary, sit. Still and quiet and wait to hear from Him?
Would you keep rushing around like Martha, trying to get all the things done, while harboring an attitude against those you love?
Would you still be holding that grudge against that friend that hurt you so many years ago?

I think it’s so easy for us to just get up every morning and get going that we forget we need him. I need him to be joyful. I need him to have grace and strength and patience with my kids, my husband and myself even. I need him to be KIND. I am a sinner. I am not even remotely in the same solar system as perfect, and therefore, I need Jesus. To be more like him so that others might slightly like me.

What if, you and I went to bed tonight resting in Jesus. Needing him.
What if, tomorrow morning, when we woke up, instead of grabbing the phone to see how many likes or messages we got during the middle of the night, or doing whatever thing you do when you first wake up…we said, “Hey Jesus. I need you. I NEED.You.”
And then we waited to hear from him.

What if we did that? I wonder how tomorrow might be different.

Something to think about on a Sunday night. Hugs for a sweet bedtime…hopefully the fireworks where you are aren’t too loud tonight…

Easter Weekend In Macon

April 24, 2017 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Faith, Life 2 Comments

Last week, in the post about Grammy’s Cake, I told y’all how great our Easter weekend with my dad, brother and his family was…so here are the pictures to prove it!

Our trip to Macon started off with playing with some new Dr. Seuss color and flash cards. Thanks Aunt Mimi for these – they were a great hit, and provided at least 2 hours of entertainment! :)

Once in Macon, Dad and I took selfies and texted them to sister-in-law, Joey. Your welcome.

My mom’s Amaryllis…hoping my dad digs up a big chunk of these for me to bring back to Columbia…they are certainly stunning!

Can you tell that my mom liked flowers? I remember her ordering Irises from California one year…and I think these were some.

Saturday afternoon we had a few egg hunts…Bert’s basket wasn’t quite big enough for all his eggs!

Trying to get a photo of this motley crew was fun…

“Too loud!” – Eliza Jane

Uncles and nieces <3

Ha! #1 babysitter right here!! Love you, PopPop! ….zzzzzzzz

Then some good clean egg-dyeing fun!

I just love Emory’s smile in this one!!!

It’s not the end of the day until somebody burns a Grammy cake. Read more about that post here: Grammy’s Cake and How She Played a Trick On Me.

This picture makes me laugh so hard. I got up at 5 a.m. to feed Emory Easter morning and this is what I saw leaving our bedroom. Kids so exhausted asleep he has no idea that his foot is on her face, and she doesn’t even care. When we showed Reynolds this photo later in the day, he belly-laughed out loud!

Easter morning at church…

The cross at Dad’s church was really beautiful, but the sun was incredibly bright! We all needed some shades!

Sweet PopPop in his new dapper blazer! {I love Eliza Jane’s hand wrapped around is arm}

Our precious neighbor from my child-hood home…

Two of my Momma’s dearest and closest friends <3

A proud PopPop with all his grandbabies. {My heart is a pool on the floor around me…I just adore this picture so much}

I love all of this. And know Grammy is smiling down on all of us.

You know it’s a good weekend when less than 5 minutes into the drive, the big one is out cold.

“Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.” Psalm 107:31 He has been so good to us and for that we praise and give thanks to Him.

As you reflect back on your Easter weekend – I hope and pray it was as filled with joy and laughter as ours was.

Much love,

Grammy’s Cake – And How She Played a Trick On Me

April 16, 2017 by Michelle Filed Under: Faith, Food & Drink 2 Comments

This weekend we had the most wonderful time in Macon with my precious Daddy, my brother and his sweet family.

Friday evening I shot my sister in law a text asking if she was making a Grammy cake, to which she replied that she wasn’t. I had every intention of making one Friday night, except that my kids were insanely wild and wouldn’t go to sleep, so I had to go to bed with them…and the cake didn’t get made.

So Saturday evening, after a day of great fun, Easter egg hunts, dyeing eggs and supper with family and friends, it was time to make Grammy’s cake.

Now let me first start off by saying that I had cooked a bit on Saturday, getting ready for Easter lunch, and had wrestled with my emotions and silently whispering to my mom that I wish so badly that she were here. Here to see her precious grandbabies running around in the backyard, laughing and playing. Her son and son-in-law racing those crazy babies, and having their own great fun throwing balls at each other and pegging PopPop many times too! So much, that in my heart and mind, she is missing out on, and that I so desperately wanted her to be a part of. But I have to trust that she is among us. And remind myself that where she is, is the most glorious of places.

Back to the cake. My sister-in-law, Joey sat at the kitchen table as I was pulling things together and re-reading the recipe for this delicious cake my mom made a staple in her kitchen. We were chatting about the recipe, the butter and sugar were beating nicely in the mixer….and I reread the flour information.

My mom was one of those ladies that had her sugar, tea and flour on the kitchen counter. Things she used every day because she cooked every day for as long as I can remember. Only my mom didn’t just have one canister of flour, she had two. One for All Purpose, and one for Self-Rising. Well, if you are a cake-baker, you know that All Purpose flour is the “cake flour” one might use in a recipe. {I personally use Swan’s Down Cake Flour}

So my mom, lovely lady she was, knew the difference between her flours. I felt somewhat perplexed as to which one I was supposed to use and as Joey and I chatted I looked inside one container and saw

Okay, so this one must be the Self-Rising Flour…NOT the one I want to use.

I dumped heaping scoops of the other flour into my measuring cup until I had 3 cups, and slowly added it to my batter.

I poured it into a perfectly greased bundt pan and placed it in my Dad’s {NEW} oven.

Somewhere close to 9 p.m. I said to my Dad that at 9:20 it would be an hour….I was going to go take a shower.

About mid-way into my shower there was a knock on the door {question: when you get a knock on the shower door, do you ever get nervous? I do. My quiet time has been interrupted by a seemingly urgent situation. And my mind starts racing…What has happened?!}

Andrew opens the door and asks how long the cake has been in, stating that “…it smells like something is burning, so we’re going to check it…”

I shaved my legs as fast as I could. Then had a slight panic and envisioned the house burning down, and how there is no window in the bathroom and how was I going to escape!!! Seriously. HOW IS THERE NO WINDOW IN THIS BATHROOM! My family is standing in the back yard screaming and praying that I can somehow make it out of this brick prison while the house is engulfed in flames.

I turned off the water and opened the shower room door, there was no smoke. There was a faint smell of something burning, but no billowing clouds of death. I am the most ridiculous person I know.

I put on my pajamas and walked down the hall wondering why there was such a stink of burn in the air. I opened the den door and asked if the cake was ok. Apparently that was a really good joke, because everyone laughed.

The cake was overflowing…like one of those volcano projects you did in elementary school.

What the heck.

Flour talk ensued in the kitchen and I told my dad which one I used and he laughed. “THAT is the Self-Rising flour” he said of the one I pointed to when he asked which one I used.

“Well, THIS one has this paper in it that SAYS Self-RISING!!!!”

“Hey. Your mom was left-handed and did funny things.”

WHAT. WHAT?! WHAT. WHY.

“So, like, she tricked her self, and everyone else including me?! What is this?” As we laughed about the quirky things my mom did all throughout her life.

Why would she do this. Why would there be a piece of paper in the ALL PURPOSE flour that said Self-Rising?

Dad pulled it out and said, “Well, this tells her how to make self-rising flour out of all-purpose flour.”

“Because she did that a lot….” I said flatly. Both canisters were almost always filled to the brim.

As we all laughed about this mis-hap, we enjoyed the fact that she must be with us. And hopefully she’s laughing at me, at us, as we stood there in the kitchen with the box fan and hood vent on high, pondering whether or not to take the volcano eruption out of the oven and just start fresh tomorrow, or let it bake and eat the dilapidated thing.

We called it. As Andrew made the decision and “shattered my every dream” he grabbed the pot-holders, Joey opened the back door, and out he went with the fallen, pan-filled goodness.

Dad then made two trips out with the racks that had charred cake batter on them and in the bottom of the oven lay a heap of black batter sadness.

Sorry about your new oven, Dad…and even more sorry about the cake…

But the cake I made this morning was just as wonderful as I remember. Thanks for being with us, mom – you little trixter…you sure are missed.

And to be sure she never gets us again by her “left-brain” silliness, Dad and I labeled the one that was All-Purpose flour…{you have to watch the “left-brain” video to really get it about left-handed people!”

I hope you and your family had a most wonderful Resurrection Sunday!

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