Working the Bliss

Joseph Campbell almost had it right when he said, “Follow your bliss.” The book of Nehemiah in the Bible says, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10 ESV) Joy is a great motivator. The joy that the Lord gives outlasts happiness. Even in an unhappy or trying moment, the joy of the Lord gets me through. Just when I think I can’t carry on, there the Holy Spirit is encouraging me. It was for joy that I began my writing journey many months ago. I have finished the rough draft of my first book. Now it feels like the real work has begun. It is slow going at the moment. I have the desire to make this project something worth other people reading. I can blame my sluggish editing on life. My two little joys are on their summer break. We’ve had family and friends’ birthdays, play dates, beach day, swimming, and trips to the library for our summer reading. We even went bowling which I haven’t done in a long time! It’s been fun and exhausting and non stop. I am also looking for a part time job as my younger child will be in school full time in September. I will miss being a full time parent, but it is a natural progression. My children love school. It will be good for me to pursue my dreams as well. I would like to make them proud and be a good example. I don’t want this book or my writing to get lost. The real dream is to combine my working life with my bliss! Anyone hiring writers? Call me up! And yet it’s not just writing for me. I want to use my talents to give God glory, to help and encourage people. I want to share the love of Jesus and if I can do that through my writing than I will be one blissful lady!

And that leads me back to my editing block. Writing is rewriting. I am facing a block of my own fear. This is the bummer part. Self doubt comes to steal my joy. I started to re-read my rough draft and I just kept thinking is this good enough? Will a reader find this interesting? Am I making any sense? I started questioning the whole book. Now I am procrastinating. I don’t want to face the nasty “good enough”fairy. While avoiding the work today, I read a Bible study by Joyce Meyer. I am laughing at myself now because the title is literally, “Are you asking for help?” Palm to face moment! The other subtitle is, “Not in Your Own Strengthen!” Sometimes God has to speak loud to get my attention. In all caps with lots of exclamation points!!! Can anyone else relate? The scripture that hooked me was, “For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.” –Philippians 2:13 (AMP) God gave me the longing to write. He gave me the idea in the first place. He will work through me to complete His purpose. I need only to ask for His help. I ask God to energize me and guide me as I edit and re-write this book. I must remember the joy. What joy will it be if I can encourage even just one reader? And so, I will drink a little more coffee and find those moments to myself to write. It is worth the work when I do it in God’s strengthen. I hope that you can follow the joy of the Lord and the purpose He has placed on your heart today.

Trying to look professional…

Egg Carton Owls and Other Thoughts

My favourite craft that the kids and I created during home school is the egg carton snowy owl. I might have enjoyed making these a little more then the kids. We used little sections of tissue paper to represent the feathers. The glue itself is instant entrainment for them. Sometimes I just don’t feel like doing crafts. For all the paint, tape, toilet rolls, markers, and mess that covers the dining room table, it may only amount to 10 minutes of activity. It’s exhausting. But my little ones love it! They get to stretch their creative muscles and make many choices. They get so much out of cutting and pasting bits and pieces together. We’ve moved on now to Science experiments. I mean I am about to willingly buy glitter, white vinegar, and food colouring all so my kids can make an exploding frothy potion go basically everywhere. This is a house keeping disaster. But to see my kiddos faces light up and know their minds are being blown as they learn a little about the world around them… It’s worth it.

Snowy Owls

I have a few other projects lined up this summer which includes clearing out the guest room, utility room, and my car. All of these tasks, if completed, will make my husband a very happy man. I don’t really relish organising things, but it needs to be done. These mundane things really do matter if you can make a loved one feel better. Especially now when the situation we are in is so uncertain. If I am struggling to smile, I’ve recently learned that making someone else smile makes all the difference. Bible teacher and writer, Joyce Meyer, says when you have a problem, “trust God and do good.” I think she is absolutely right. When I am tempted to wallow in my own troubles (and it is tempting to do so) I try to encourage someone else. I also ask for help. I ask my friends to pray with me. Neither of these things are easy to do, but the benefits are so worth it. Instantly, my focus is off of me. Now I’m free for God to show me how I can help someone else. Putting other people first is what it is all about and ironically, brings me joy too.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

Daily Treasures

One of my favourite moments of today was when my two year old son said, “Want me to play a little song everyone?” as he held his sister’s toy violin. His smile and song stole my heart anew.  There are a lot of things that I could be down about right now, but you know what I am not going to do that tonight. I watched my 4 year old daughter wail with despair (and tiredness) at dinner to then completely light up with happiness again when I gave her an orange gummy vitamin. It was amazing to behold. But it got me thinking about the little things in life that bring me joy.  So I am going to count my orange gummy vitamins!

My kids are my biggest blessings. My mission is to support and encourage these two little human beings into happy healthy grown ups. That is my greatest joy.  And in the tough moments I will relish my other orange gummy vitamins: family, friends, belly-laughs with tears, strong coffee, a good book, Autumn leaves and you know carrot cake. The point of my ramblings is really that life is good. Super tough. But good.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I will say rejoice!” Philippians 4:4

Messy Toddlerhood

I like to call this afternoon “messy game gone wrong.” It seemed like a good idea at the time. You put flour in a tin pan and let the little ones make tracks with cars and toys. This worked for about two minutes until the one year old decided to dump all his flour out onto the floor. The three year old thought this was hilarious and began tossing fist fulls of powder. All I can say is at least I kept it contained to the kitchen.

This is just one of a series of questionable sleep-deprived mommy decisions I made today. But all worth the giggles and squeals of delight from my babies. They seemed to relish in the freedom of making a big ole mess! One splashy bath and Disney film later; the floor was clean again and dinner nearly finished.

What’s life without a bit of mess? A bit of fun?  I have to set so many boundaries for my toddlers that these moments are refreshing. My prayer tonight is that we make more of these memories. I want to delight in Ivy and Albert instead of just raising them. They give me so much joy. My goal tomorrow is to laugh with them even more.

 

The World According to Ivy Grace

Both of my babies are crazy about my phone. Their little eyes twinkle with glee and triumph whenever they get ahold of it. They become Gollum and my cell phone is the Precious! I often find photos I know I haven’t taken when I get the phone back. I don’t know how Ivy, as the oldest, manages to take pictures but she has figured it out like a pro.

Whenever I get the chance I scroll through my gallery to delete the repeats of our carpet or stairs. Once in a while one of Ivy’s photos will catch my attention and I have to save the image. It’s a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her world; a unique chance to see our grown up world from Ivy’s fresh perspective. I like her point of view.

Sometimes in the routine of mommyhood I can forget that my little ones are constantly investigating. I forget to see life through their eyes. This is one of the things I love about raising babies. It’s a perk of the job to see the world as a child again. I get to remember the awe and wonder of the everyday. I know this isn’t a new concept but when you are in the thick of things as a parent it can be really uplifting. Remembering Ivy and Albert’s perspectives helps me to have more patience and compassion. How exciting and daunting life must be to a toddler!

Sometimes I’m too tired or in a hurry or dealing with a typical baby emergency and I miss the magic of the moment. Hopefully this gallery of photos will remind me to be present. Enjoy my life, even the mundane parts of it. Enjoy my babies and “Rejoice always.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16) So let’s see if this puts a smile on your face. I give you the world according to Ivy Grace.

 

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Moments

What were you up to at 7 am this morning? Me? I was playing with this little beauty above. She was excited after breakfast to run about in her footy pajamas with her sunglasses on. I love her. I love her creativity. I love these stolen moments. These are the little moments in life that really mean everything. My plan is to make sure I don’t miss it. I don’t want my agenda to override the joy of Ivy growing up. Our time together is already moving so fast. I will be responsible. I will take care of our home which I know is a huge blessing. But sometimes the floor will just have to stay dusty a little longer while I chase my little doodle bee around the living room.

From Joy to Joyce

As new parents, my husband and I don’t make it out to the movies that often. I love films. I really wanted to see last year’s Joy with Jennifer Lawrence. I think she is a talented actress and the premise of the film seemed interesting. So I went to our local DVD rental store. Yes, we still have one. No, we don’t Netflix or have movie channels. It felt very 1996 to rent a movie. It was fun. My husband had to work away and my baby girl politely slept for two straight hours. Mommy win! I enjoyed some movie time.

Joy is not a “chick flick.” This film was so much more than I thought it would be. The main character is a woman with an idea, a vision, and a need to provide for her family. Director and writer David O. Russell was inspired by the life of Joy Mangano, the American inventor of the miracle mop. He takes some pretty big creative licenses but the essence of her story is there. The tone of this film was surprising but it brought humor and theatricality to the piece. I found the story refreshing and inspiring. It isn’t often that a female is the lead in a film and the focus isn’t on her romantic life. In Joy, Jennifer Lawrence’s character is bright and determined. Her childhood dreams of inventing are at first buried by life and providing for her children. I especially appreciate how this film portrayed the many pressures and responsibilities that a working mother must balance. It is through Joy’s role  of touchstone for her family that she has a brilliant idea and opportunity to enter the business world.

I must confess in the back of my mind as I watched, I kept waiting for the lead character Joy to find love. Bradley Cooper’s character came a long and I thought oh they will get together. But than I realized this is genuinely a film about her journey to achieve her dream as an inventor. It was empowering to watch. It also revealed a bit of Hollywood programming in my expectations. I found it interesting how Joy and her former husband’s relationship unfolded. They co-parent their children and support each other as friends. By the end of the film, I felt energized and inspired to create. I also wanted to purchase a miracle mop because it is an awesome household invention. Joy Mangano was unique as a credible business woman in 1990. She got me thinking about strong inventive women that have inspired me along the way.

I am blessed with strong inspiring women within my family and friends. However, this film brought to mind an inspiring lady that I have never met, Joyce Meyer.  She is an author, preacher, teacher, mom, wife, and president of Joyce Meyer Ministries including outreach ministry Hand of Hope. Whenever I feel a bit homesick, I watch Joyce’s television program, Enjoying Everyday Life. Like Joy Mangano, Joyce Meyer was a bit ahead of her time. She felt led to preach and teach the word of God in a time when women just weren’t expected to do such a thing. I appreciate her practical Spirit-filled messages because Joyce has lived it. Her testimony is tremendous. With God’s help, she has overcome so much. (If you would like more information on her message and life check out her website http://www.joycemeyer.org.) Her life would make for an interesting film. The theme would be God’s amazing love and redeeming power. He has taken Joyce’s pain and turned it into promise; a message of hope for other people dealing with their own heart ache and trials. To quote Joyce herself, “Jesus is the equalizer.” Whether you are male, female, no matter your race, culture, age, nationality, we are all the same in Christ.  I feel blessed as a woman.  I hope that one day I can inspire my daughter to follow her dreams and rely on the Lord above to guide her.

So, dear reader, who inspires you? Is there a woman in your life that is extraordinary? Please click on the comment button above and share. Thank you.