Sometimes I Write

If you look at my links list, you’ll notice the word “Flylady”. This is the BEST website for moms whether you are a stay at home mom, or work outside the home. Actually, it’s awesome for everyone, mom or not! Even Benny has found it very useful and helpful with his youth ministry stuff. About three years ago my friend Laurie and I discovered it and it changed my life. I am already known in my circle of friends as “the organizer”. It’s my Type A, I’m sure of it. But this system of FLYing (Finally Loving Yourself) was revolutionary for me. I went from CHAOS (can’t have anybody over syndrome) and obsessing about my home to FLYing (having regular routines and a cleaning schedule). It works!!! Don’t take my word for it, try it out for yourself.

Organizing is my specialty. I was one of those annoying kids that had everything neatly filed in my locker for easy access. I could have invented locker storage solutions! I was probably the first woman to buy Martha Stewart’s, Good Things for Organizing book, and I have atleast 6 books in my personal library that are organization related. (And all my books are shelved by topic.) I have clear plastic containers all over my house that store everything from Q-tips to coloring books. We have before bed, morning, and lunchtime routines posted on the fridge that the kids can mark off with dry erase as they go. I am the poster child for organization.

Here’s the thing…Someone clipped my wings. Probably me, but I think I had help. So what’s the problem? Let’s see…Procrastination, tiredness, and maybe I’m still recovering from pregnancy brain. Hey…3 kids in 5 years is hard on a woman! But enough of the whining, and I already had my tantrum this week. So after much discussion with dear hubby (some heated and with tears) I went back to the website and re-read the whole thing. How many times can you hear, “Life was much happier around here when you were a FLYlady”. (my paraphrase ofcourse) It took me a few hours, during which he watched the kids. (I should have made a pot of tea and some scones first!) 🙂 The more I read, the more I remembered and I started to get excited. I thought, “I can do this! I have already been there so I know I can”.

Since I’m good at organizing and I really enjoy it, Benny thinks maybe Satan has been attacking me in that area of my life. It is easily the most discouraging thing in my life right now, being semi-organized and semi-cluttered. (I’ve had way too many pity parties complete with chips and dip). I know the difference between moving clutter and regular clutter, and my moving clutter was gone a month after we got here. Physical clutter is mental clutter, and my mind hasn’t been very free lately. So, I am so excited that I’m going to be FLYing again! Life really was much simpler then. Ofcourse I only had 1 child then. On a positive note, I now have 3 children that LOVE to help me around the house. I can’t get them to leave the vacuum cleaner alone. I might as well teach them how to use the darn thing! LOL

It is also going to be invaluable for our Homeschooling which begins in 2 short weeks! When I’m FLYing I’m free to enjoy my hubby and kids because the dirty work, literally, is out of the way. I’m taking what I’ve learned from her system and making it fit the Nowell family. Babysteps is the key! I’m growing my wings out again!

www.flylady.com

He has finally done it! Benny started his blog today. “I’m not a blogger” he said. “Yeah right, you’re powered by Blogger”, I reminded him. “You’re posting things for other people to read and comment on, that makes you a blogger.” And that’s how the verbal volley ended.

He has decided that a blog would be another good way to keep our support team and anyone else that stops by our website up to date on the latest activities of Dry Bones and the lives of the kids we encounter and befriend. So, if you click on the “Update” button from our site it will take you to his blog. OR you can just click on his name to the right of this post in my blogroll.

I’m excited that you, my friends and blogging family, and also chance readers who accidentally land here from tapping the Next Blog button (Sandy ;)), get to hear (read) about life from his perspective, which is TOTALLY different than mine. Well, mostly different than mine. We truly are opposites in so many ways. So welcome my passionate, daring and dangerous hubby to the blog world! What are you waiting for? Go click on his name already!

My friend Adam posted about his Trek experience last week and how God gave him the gift of a new heart. Read his post. It’s great!

As you know, I had a collection of rocks shaped like hearts started by Benny, then Max added to it. This past week I added 9 more rocks from my hike with Tawnya. When I saw the first one, I almost left it there because it wouldn’t mean the same thing as the rest of my collection if I found it for myself. Then I picked it up and thought I’d give it to Benny, but as I put it in my pocket, a thought crossed my mind that maybe it was a gift from God – it was the first heart shaped rock I had ever found. A special reminder that sometimes our hearts are found on high places, out in the wild, and surrounded by God’s creation. I thanked God for the gift, and in the next hour I found 7 more! (Tawnya found 1 and gave it to me too).

We had such a good time talking and laughing on that hike. Most of the laughing happened during all the breaks we had to take to catch our breath! We were determined to reach the snow even though I told her it looked deceptively close. I found the first rock on the way up the trail. I told Tawnya about my collection as I was thinking about whether or not to keep it. After that she started watching for them too. We both picked up several that SORT OF looked like hearts. I laughed and said I’m a purist and it needed to really have the shape or I wouldn’t keep it. But I got to thinking about the ones already in my livingroom and decided I shouldn’t be quite so picky. You see, some of the rocks I’d received as gifts were not perfectly heart shaped. Some had a few jagged edges, some looked like they had been carved, some were smooth and roundish, some were small, some were big, and some had moss growing on them, some were dark, some were light, and some were heavy. Do you know any hearts like that? We even found a very large one that was about 10 inches long and 4-5 inches wide. We don’t know how thick it was because it was partially buried in the ground. It was way too big to dig up or carry around. We joked that we’d come back for it someday.

All of the differences in the rocks of my collection and the ones collected this week, make them special and unique – something to treasure. One of my favorites is the one Max found for me and autographed. The look in his eyes when he excitedly pulled it from his pocket and placed it in my hand was one of such love, and hope. He wanted so badly for me to love it and hear me squeal with delight over his gift. I am amazed when the Lord uses my children to show me His truth and love. When I presented my heart to God, I believe He too squealed with delight at me finally trusting Him. I could almost feel Him lean down to hug me and thank me for the gift of my heart as He promised to hold it, strengthen it, and give it back to me.

They turned out a bit dark, but here they are, every one a reminder of my own heart and the hearts of others:

After 12 long days, my guys are home! YEAH!!!

Thank you God for their safe travels and bringing them home.

No blogging for me tonight!

What??? I’m married! 😉

You are Romans.

Which book of the Bible are you?
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