What I’ve Been Reading

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While I’m busy not writing so much right now, I’ve been catching up with a long-lost love of mine – reading. I don’t know exactly what caused it, but I went through a several years’ long funk in the book reading department. This year, I was determined to change that since I knew I’d have a lot more down time with nursing a baby. Also, I got a Kindle for Christmas from my parents, and it has made reading one-handed in the middle of the night infinitely easier.

I fought the idea of an eReader for a long time, but the fact is, I am reading far more books than I did with those good old fashioned paperbacks. In case you’re new to the eReader scene, let me encourage you to check out the website eReader Girl. It lists daily deals on free or discounted eBooks, and I’ve gotten a ton of books to add to my library for next to nothing.

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite reads of this year for those of you who enjoy a good book. If you’re an avid reader, you probably already read many, if not all, of these long ago, but I’m like 5 years behind all books that are not by Francine Rivers. So this list is more for those recovering from a non-reading phase. Oh! And I totally recommend stealing Crystal Paine’s idea of starting a Pinterest board to keep track of all of the books you read in a year. It’s a big motivator for me to be able to add a new book to my list so I can go back and cheer myself on for reading 14 books so far this year! Go me! :)

1. Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic. I know, I know. The awesomeness of this book is old news to many. Jen told me to read it 2 years ago when it came out. It sounded good, but I was in that reading funk, and I kept putting it off. I’ve decided that it’s for the best that I didn’t read it until I had a 3 year old and a 2 month old. Any season of motherhood that includes an infant comes with an element of chaos, and I needed to read it right. that. minute. in my life. It’s encouraging, it’s convicting, it’s short. All of those things that are important to moms of little ones. Rachel writes like she’s a friend sitting down and talking to you about what’s happening in her life, and I love that! I have started reading her newest book, Fit to Burst, as well, and it’s great so far, too.

2. Impact my Life: Biblical Mentoring Simplified by Elise Pulliam. This was an eReader Girl find that turned out to be great! My passion for discipleship/mentoring grows with each year I’m alive and learning how Jesus did things. It’s an easy read, and I plan to use it as a guide when I start my own mentoring group with girls in our youth department at church. No sense in reinventing the wheel when Elise has done such a great job doing the leg work and presenting it in this book!

3.Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try Hard Life by Emily Freeman. I’ve heard Ashley talk of this one often, and I really wanted to read it. It was a fantastic book! I sent out texts to several friends when I was only a few chapters into it saying, “You must read this!” This book is for all of those girls who find security in being “good” or following rules or pleasing others. It gives a lot of food for thought, and a part of me wished I’d discovered it a decade ago before I learned much of its contents the hard way. Sometimes learning through experience is the best way, however, and I still felt encouraged by this book because it will always be my flesh-inspired tendency to lean toward the “good girl” way of thinking. Thank God for grace!

4. Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle. This was my most recent book to read, and I LOVED it so much! I can’t count the number of times I laughed out loud as I related to Melanie’s stories about potty training, throwing sand, and countless other accounts of those stories that can only originate from being around a small child. It is more than just a a laugh out loud book, though. I felt encouraged by her message as well, and I can not recommend it highly enough.

What books have you read recently that you would like to recommend? I’m officially taking recommendations since I love reading again.

If you’re new to this site, thanks so much for stopping by! I would love to have you as a part of this humble little community of women who want to find the exceptional power of God in our otherwise average lives. If you would like to receive updates when I add new posts, you can like my Facebook page, subscribe to my RSS feed, or receive new posts by email. You can also find all of these options easily by going to my home page and clicking on the appropriate icon located in the right side bar.

 

 

 

Letters to my Daughter: Let’s Talk About Beauty

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BabyCakes Studios: Westerfield &emdash;

To my sweet baby girl,

I tell you every day that you are God’s precious gift to me, but I wish with all of my being there were some way that I could convince you of how deeply I mean it. You have no idea how much He’s brought me through to get to this place where I can sit without overwhelming fear and smile down at you, a little lady entrusted to me.

Don’t be alarmed when I admit this to you, but there was a time in my life, long before you were conceived, when the thought of having a daughter petrified me. I’m over that now, and I could not be more delighted that you are my beautiful daughter, but I want to explain a few of the reasons I feared it.

It boils down to this, being a girl myself, I know more vividly the struggles that come with being female. It’s not easy, my dear, but it doesn’t have to be nearly as hard as we tend to make it. Today I want to begin a conversation that we’ll have many times in our years of growing together.

Beauty.

I still struggle with this one, my love, but we will work hard to conquer it together.

I remember when I was a girl there was a wildly popular company called Glamor Shots. In short, women and girls would go in for a photo shoot after getting a makeover. Was it evil to participate? Not at all. I knew lots of people who did it, and I firmly believe that they did nothing wrong for indulging in this fun activity.

I wanted to go in for my own makeover and come out with the pictures to prove I, too, could look beautiful with hair fancy in pure 90s form with lots of hair spray and really tall bangs. But my mom said no. I remember crying as I asked her why. I wanted to feel beautiful for once in my short life, and it seemed she was depriving me of that happiness. I remember her quiet response, “I want you to always know what true beauty looks like. You don’t need all of that to be beautiful. You already are beautiful just the way that God made you.”

I didn’t get it. I sighed as I looked in the mirror and begrudgingly distributed my homely school pictures. “If only…” I sighed as I imagined how much better I would look with a lot of makeup on my pre-adolescent face.

Now that I’m grown, there are still times when I still play that “If only…” game. If only…

I had the same body I did 10 years ago.
I had more money to buy nicer clothes.
I had different hair.
I had a more attractive face.

They start piling and I start spiraling when I dwell on “if onlys.” But one article I happened upon recently online made me smile and get my focus off my self-centered, incorrect view of true beauty. It contained dozens of pictures of funny Glamor Shots photo shoots. While the women posing were probably beautiful women in real life, they looked comically out of sorts as they posed with their white glove-adorned hands holding their far-too-big and bedazzled collars. The pictures were dated, just like pictures become as time passes. The styles portrayed in those pictures 20 years ago are long gone, and their lipstick would not turn heads in a positive way if worn today.

In the 5 minutes I spent perusing the pictures in the article, I silently thanked my mom for being right and sticking to it when it would have been easier to let me go feel better about myself for a brief season in my life by having my own Glamor Shots. Fashions change quickly, my dear, and your body will always have some awkward stage it’s going through even when you’re all grown up. So please do your best to understand early on that beauty is more than what you put on or how you style your hair. It’s how God made you. Perfect. Exactly how He wants you. In HIS image.

This is only the beginning of this conversation, sweet daughter. We both have much to learn about finding that balance of caring for the temple God’s given us and not getting caught up in what those around us say we should do and wear to look good. May we always remember to cast aside the “if onlys” and strive to glorify our Creator with the beautiful bodies He’s given us in every season of our lives.

Love,
Mama

Soli Deo Gloria

 

 

 

If you’re new to this site, thanks so much for stopping by! I would love to have you as a part of this humble little community of women who want to find the exceptional power of God in our otherwise average lives. If you would like to receive updates when I add new posts, you can like my Facebook page, subscribe to my RSS feed, or receive new posts by email. You can also find all of these options easily by going to my home page and clicking on the appropriate icon located in the right side bar.

 

 

Get the eBook “Trend Breakers” for only $0.99!

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JPEG Trendbreakers

Happy Mother’s Day to my readers! This weekend, you can purchase my eBook, Trend Breakers: Discovering and Choosing True Friendship in a Lonely World for only $0.99! It’s available in both the PDF form or for the Kindle.

Go here to download the PDF version. Just be sure to use the coupon code: MOTHERSDAY

Go here to purchase the Kindle version.

I pray that God blesses you in your friendships with the women God has placed in your life, but ultimately you enjoy and appreciate the relationship you have with the Creator of friendships.

If you’re new to this site, thanks so much for stopping by! I would love to have you as a part of this humble little community of women who want to find the exceptional power of God in our otherwise average lives. If you would like to receive updates when I add new posts, you can like my Facebook page, subscribe to my RSS feed, or receive new posts by email. You can also find all of these options easily by going to my home page and clicking on the appropriate icon located in the right side bar.

That Ugly Post to Push me Over the Hump

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I’ve been mulling over a great many things lately of the blogging kind. Nothing new, really, just trying to determine where to go from here. Before I come across as emo, please note that this post’s greatest purpose is to help me sort things out. I come up with my clearest answers by writing things out, so this is not, I repeat NOT, a cry for help from the depths of despair.

Taking care of little ones, especially when they’re very little, takes a great deal of time. Not to mention energy and brain power. At the end of just about every day when I used to be able to sit at the computer and write for a while, my head crashes on my pillow. If I’m not feeling exhausted, then I try to think about what I should write and it doesn’t come. Or it does and I try writing it only to get frustrated because it’s all a jumbled mess. That’s why you can currently find no less than five incomplete drafts of posts started and abandoned on my blog’s dashboard because it isn’t working.

It all feeds into that confusing network of knowledge and expectations about what makes a good blog post. I’ve read what makes a good blog post, and I’ve spent a great deal of time trying my best to make them be just as much like the experts say they should be as possible. There’s a place for that, but right now I’m a bit disenchanted with the written and unwritten rules of the blogging world.

Being relevant, having easy-to-read posts complete with properly sourced or watermarked pictures, linking up – all of these things are well and good, but they can become time suckers from things that are higher priorities to me right now, like my family or my home or actually following through with my intentions to send a “how are you?” text to my friends. Don’t even get me started on my love-hate view of the whole social media aspect of it. Ultimately, it’s that pressure I put on myself to make sure my blog is meeting the criteria that is keeping me silent, and that will simply not do. (Thanks, Jen, for the encouragement to just write.)

So I am just writing tonight. Nothing fancy or even coherent. I’m pretty sure I will not do much in way of proofreading because I am determined to actually complete a post. As therapy to my perfectionism sins. When Jen and I were texting back and forth about our real-life conversation and her post today about blogging, I was able to say one thing that made sense to me. And I’m going to resist the urge to make this post “complete” by including the screen shot of the text so I have a picture in this post. (Seriously, people, I’m messed up.) Here’s what I said,

“You know, I rambled enough last night to prove that I don’t have any answers but I do know this. We keep coming back to it because we love it, and at the end of the day here’s one thing I’ve decided when it comes to my own blogging journey. If I become a better person for it, then it’s worth it. I believe I have because I’ve put myself out there and I’ve acted in faith. It’s through blogging that I discovered that I struggle with both. A lot.”

So there you have it. I’m ending right here, not because it’s a work of art, but because I’m ready for bed, and this is as good a place as any to pause until next time. Goodnight you wonderful, dear friends who stick with me when I’m wordy, silent, confused, or whatever other description fits in my various seasons of life. You have been the audience that has loved me as I strive to be who God wants me to be, and I am truly grateful for you.

If you’re new to this site, thanks so much for stopping by! I would love to have you as a part of this humble little community of women who want to find the exceptional power of God in our otherwise average lives. If you would like to receive updates when I add new posts, you can like my Facebook page, subscribe to my RSS feed, or receive new posts by email. You can also find all of these options easily by going to my home page and clicking on the appropriate icon located in the right side bar.

 

 

My Daily Dose of Exceptionally Average

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It’s the peanut butter and jelly that I eat for lunch.

It’s the holes that I punch in Tupperware so we can make a home for slugs we dig up under the guttering.

It’s the Angry Bird battles I hear raging from his room. Did I mention that he’s decided every farm animal toy that we own is now one of the infamous pigs from the game? Or that he builds his own elaborate structures with every possible construction item he can find amongst his toys? Or that now Angry Birds has been taken to a new level because he uses his remote control car to knock over the towers?

It’s the way my sweet baby grasps my arm when I reach down to give her her pacifier.

It’s the conversations we have both silly, sweet, and serious about God. By the way, according to Dash, God is the one who taught him his boyish orneriness. I asked him where he learned to be so ornery and he told me quite proudly, “Um, God!”

It’s establishing routines with a three month old.

It’s cheering on a three year old for eating 6 whole bites of chicken in 45 minutes’ time. The accomplishment is mind-blowing, I know.

It’s bearing witness to slobbery smiles and sibling love.

It’s that sweet treat when both children are in their beds for at least 20 simultaneous minutes in the middle of the day and I get to sit down and watch a show with my husband only to be interrupted because the baby starts crying and then the three year old wants to make sure I haven’t forgotten he’s “suffering through” his nap/quiet time so he sighs extra loud when I walk by his door.

These are the little things that make up my exceptionally average. They seem insignificant, but they’re not. They’re each a beautiful gift, a chance to learn, an opportunity to fulfill my calling.

If you’re new to this site, thanks so much for stopping by! I would love to have you as a part of this humble little community of women who want to find the exceptional power of God in our otherwise average lives. If you would like to receive updates when I add new posts, you can like my Facebook page, subscribe to my RSS feed, or receive new posts by email. You can also find all of these options easily by going to my home page and clicking on the appropriate icon located in the right side bar.

Those Little Things That Make Me Smile

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My life is a blessed one. Deeply, richly, thoroughly blessed. I often enjoy sharing my heart about how God is working in my life to show me the beauty in the everyday with my sweet kids, husband, friends, and family.

Today I plan to be anything but deep. Over the past week or two, I’ve felt some chaotic moments taunt my sanity to the max. In those desperation prayers to get me through, I begged God to get me through day two of no shower or order in the house, and He has delivered big time. I fully praise Him for coming through and keeping all of us in one piece in the process. I also believe, however, it’s important to thank Him for the little things that made a difference.

Things like this drink introduced to me by a friend during a play date. (And may I say the play date itself was therapeutic, too.)

That’s right. Green tea sweetened with honey instead of aspertame. And it’s instant thank you very much. I should also probably point out that my goal in this post is NOT to show off amazing photography or editing skills. I’m posting them straight from my phone thank you very  much.

Next up on my list is this little book.

I’ve heard great thing about “Loving the Little Years” but had never gotten around to read it. I couldn’t have read it at a better time. It’s so, so good. The perfect balance of encouragement and challenge. Plus it’s a slim book because what mom of littles has time to read a thick book?!?

This next items doesn’t make me smile per say, but it’s still a good thing for me.

I love the 30 Day Shred because it actually works. It only takes about 30 minutes to complete a workout, and while it’s a pretty intense workout, I can already tell a difference in the 3 weeks I’ve been using it in how my clothes are fitting. Hallelujah as I bid each article of maternity clothing adieu.

I have a weakness when it comes to sugar. I know it’s true, but since I’m on a quest to be able to wear clothes I like again, I’m working very hard to practice moderation. It’s going much better thanks to my pals over at Hershey. I allow myself a handful of dark chocolate chips when I feel that overwhelming need for sugar. It’s just enough to keep me sane without loading up on calories every day.

This next thing is kind of big in my book, but we got it for a small price.

We happened upon this gem at a flea market last weekend, and it couldn’t be more perfect for our needs. It was completely affordable, totally solid, and matches my current color scheme well. We have never had the ability to comfortably seat more than four people, but now we actually can!!! Look out dinner guests; I see normal dining experiences in our future.

Lastly, I’m really excited about starting this Bible study with some amazing girls I get to minister with at church. We started this week, and I’m excited about the challenge of completing my weekly assignments as I learn more about the book of James.

Happy Wednesday, everyone. I hope you’re finding joy in the little things today as well. :)

If you’re new to this site, thanks so much for stopping by! I would love to have you as a part of this humble little community of women who want to find the exceptional power of God in our otherwise average lives. If you would like to receive updates when I add new posts, you can like my Facebook page, subscribe to my RSS feed, or receive new posts by email. You can also find all of these options easily by going to my home page and clicking on the appropriate icon located in the right side bar.

 

Simple Easter Activity for the Preschooler in Your Life

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If you’ve read anything I’ve written in the past few weeks, you’ll probably notice that simple is my motto. The only way that I’ll accomplish anything is if I keep it short, sweet, and a little bit flawed. And I kind of like it that way.

With it being Holy Week this week, I wanted to do at least a couple of things to make the specialness of Easter stick in Dash’s head. Based on the sweet fruit I’ve seen come from our simple activities and conversations, he is starting to get the true meaning of Easter. My heart could not be more full as I listen to the questions he’s asking.

I used to worry so much about trying to create the most adorable crafts and plan the coolest activities the online world had to offer when it came to teaching Dash, but life and grace have taught me something far greater. God truly makes everything beautiful in His time. Just because it works for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for me or my child. That doesn’t mean I give up completely, it just means I stop hyperventilating and teach as we live life.

For us, that’s meant a lot of conversations where I relate something he’s interested in with truths from God’s Word. It’s also meant making sure he’s involved in the wonderful classes and programs our church offers for kids his age. I’ve seen him really flourish from being in that environment. In the end, what I want is for his faith to be real. If that means we don’t have dozens of cute crafts to show how we celebrated each of his early holidays, that is okay.

This Christmas and Easter have been the first holidays he’s acted interested in anything “project” related, so I was very excited when I found this idea on Pinterest. It was something that I could prep as we talked and cut paper together plus I had all of the supplies on hand. (As a side note, don’t you love all of the dinosaurs covering the floor in the background?)

Easter

This project was a culmination of several conversations we’ve been having about Easter over the past several weeks. It was really neat and funny to watch him put it all together here. If you’re in the mood from some adorable 3-year-old chatter, you can watch the video of him telling the Easter story here. I drew some stick men on paper to represent Jesus & the angel. See? I told you that simple and flawed were part of how I roll.

It wouldn’t be a complete Easter story from a three-year-old’s perspective if I didn’t tell you that after I drew the “bad guys” he requested at the end of the video, he proceeded to draw a sword for Jesus to use to fight the bad guys. Or that Jesus then saw fit to knock the poor, innocent dinosaur setting next to him on the table onto the floor. But the main facts have been planted in his heart, and it’s a beautiful thing to watch them come out in the midst of silliness.

Happy Easter everyone! What special thing(s) are you doing to celebrate with your family this year?

If you’re new to this site, thanks so much for stopping by! I would love to have you as a part of this humble little community of women who want to find the exceptional power of God in our otherwise average lives. If you would like to receive updates when I add new posts, you can like my Facebook page, subscribe to my RSS feed, or receive new posts by email. You can also find all of these options easily by going to my home page and clicking on the appropriate icon located in the right side bar.

Pray for Caleb + A Guest Post

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Pray for Caleb

Several months ago, my friend Desiré at When You Rise asked me to share a guest post while she was in the hospital with her new miracle, Caleb. In case you missed it when I requested prayer for him a few months ago, I’ll catch you up. Caleb has a heart condition (actually several) that requires several surgeries to repair. His parents found out about this when they went in for the 18 week routine ultrasound. It’s been quite a journey for them since then as they prepared for his arrival. Caleb was born on March 16th and just underwent his first surgery last Friday. You can follow along to learn about his progress and get specific prayer requests by liking their Facebook page, Pray for Caleb.

I feel honored to not only get to share a few humble words on Desiré’s blog, but to get to see God work through this family. I have held my sweet baby girl many times in the past few weeks with a thankful heart and an extra burden to pray for Caleb. He has a specific plan for each life that He creates, and I’m confident that He has big, big plans for this little boy. Will you please take a minute right now to pray for him and his family?

Without further ado, feel free to read the post that originated from my sleep-deprived desperation for God’s strength during this short, beautiful, and challenging time of motherhood. You can find it here.

If you’re new to this site, thanks so much for stopping by! I would love to have you as a part of this humble little community of women who want to find the exceptional power of God in our otherwise average lives. If you would like to receive updates when I add new posts, you can like my Facebook page, subscribe to my RSS feed, or receive new posts by email. You can also find all of these options easily by going to my home page and clicking on the appropriate icon located in the right side bar.

 

How to Keep Your Sanity When You Have a Newborn

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Perhaps you’ve heard of the Early to Rise Challenge that Crystal from Money Saving Mom has been writing about this month. It’s a great, wonderful, important thing to do if you are in the right season for it. I, however, am not anywhere near being able to participate.

As I read through her posts about it during my late-night feedings, I felt the need to give myself a pep talk. Then I decided to write it down and share it with anyone who might be in the same boat as me.

You can read what I came up with here.

Insert Title Here

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You know what I love about writing? It lends itself to learning.

This year, I adopted the word Identify as my One Little Word of the year, and it’s been a word that has induced a great deal of soul searching. Sometimes that can prove to be haphazard since I started out the year ready to give birth and then followed that up with being post-partum…no extra hormones are involved in either of those states of living or anything. :)

All of that aside, when I’ve identified my goals and dreams for writing, I’ve addressed the strengths and weaknesses of this blog. This is something every blogger does incessantly at times, I believe. Here’s one thing that I’ve been struggling with for a while and am finally trying to resolve: the title.

I stink at titles. With nearly every paper I wrote as a student, I saved coming up with the title for last. I hoped that by writing I’d be inspired with the perfect words to capture the essence of my body of work. I almost always turned those papers in pretty pleased with the content of the paper, but hoping that the teacher or professor would kindly gloss over the title and not judge the entire thing by the title.

When I felt God prompting me to start this blog, the title Exceptionally Average would not leave my head. My hope was to draw in women who felt inferior or “stuck” by being either an exception to the rule or painfully average. If we’re all honest with ourselves, everyone has been there. Or is there.The purpose behind this was to encourage them to own their current places in life so they could joyfully live out the ministry God has for them right now.

I’ve come to realize something, however. The title doesn’t have the draw I hoped it would. In my head, it made sense because I had worked out all of the sub-points and reasons neatly in there. The rest of the world isn’t in my head, though, and I’m afraid that the title isn’t conveying the ultimate intent I desire. So I’m mulling over some ideas for a new title that better captures the message for which God has given me a passion.

Do any of you master title makers have ideas? I’d love to hear them as I weed through the convoluted jumble of words in this head of mine. My friend Ashley helped me narrow down things a bit. (By the way, if you haven’t ever checked out her blog, you’re missing out! Go read it.)

After our conversation and the conversations God and I have had since then, for right now, I’m claiming the words Embracing Confidence. My prayer for each one of you reading this is that you will look at the place where God has you right now and own it with confidence.

If you have a relationship with Him, own that you are His child and that He has a purpose for you to fulfill right now.

If you are working at a job that is exhausting and thankless, fulfill your duties with confidence that He is using you to shine in a dark place.

If your job is to care for your small children, clean up that spilled milk with confidence that God has placed in you what you need to raise up the next generation to point all glory to Him.

If you are sick or unable to interact with others much for whatever reason, own that you can boldly approach the throne of grace on behalf of countless people in need of your prayers.

If you feel like you’re nothing but an average person who can’t accomplish great things, set some goals, step out of your comfort zone, and begin accomplishing what you never thought possible. God will give you the necessary confidence if you seek to fulfill His plans for your life. I’m living proof.

So there you have it, some of the thoughts going through my head in this baby-induced sabbatical from writing. I’ve truly enjoyed and needed it, and I plan to continue to enjoy it as long as necessary. The only thing is, I’m really missing some of my dear blogging friends. So hi there friends! I hope you’re doing well.

If you’re new to this site, thanks so much for stopping by! I would love to have you as a part of this humble little community of women who want to find the exceptional power of God in our otherwise average lives. If you would like to receive updates when I add new posts, you can like my Facebook page, subscribe to my RSS feed, or receive new posts by email. You can also find all of these options easily by going to my home page and clicking on the appropriate icon located in the right side bar.