It’s now been over a week since my husband left to work out of province. If you’d like to read more about that, he’s keeping a daily journal on his blog here: http://homesteaddad.wordpress.com/
As for how things have been around here…
Actually much better then I had anticipated.
Last week went by somewhat through a hazy and tired blur.
I don’t normally “do” tired. I can live off very little sleep for the most part, but I always need a little boost of at least one day every so often, of sleeping in. I didn’t have my boost the past two weeks, so by the end of the week I was beginning to feel a little zombie-ish.
Between getting up early to get the older two kids to work on time, and my body just not co-operating with this new early morning routine and thinking it can still stay awake until 2 am, it was a little too much. Saturday I slept in. I woke up at 7:00 and laid there and COUNTED and counted and counted until I went back to sleep and slept until 10:15. The younger three were at my parents for a few nights, so I figured I’d better grab the opportunity to catch up on sleep while I could! I think that did the trick!
By last night, Sunday, I was able to fall asleep before midnight. Almost a miracle for me. When I woke at 6:15 this morning, it wasn’t quite so bad. It’s barely 8:00 am and I’ve already taken Alesia to work, had my quiet reading time, made coffee, drank a cup of coffee and onto my second one, checked my emails and now I’ve got some time to blog before I wake the younger kids. This is probably the first time I’ve ever blogged in the morning. Could become a nice habit!
Yesterday was church, without dear hubby. That seemed weird.
We actually haven’t been going to a church regularly for oh… about 7 years now. We used to be quite involved in church, and then found it was beginning to tear our family apart, rather then build us up. So we took a ‘sabbatical’ I guess you could call it. That may ‘shock’ some, but actually, it’s the best thing we could have ever done. At one time our family was so busy “doing” for the church, that our own family life was falling apart. When church takes center stage over family, something needs to change, so that’s what we did. One might think our faith would have diminished during those 7 years, but actually, it was quite the opposite. If one believes in God, one knows He is everywhere, not just in certain buildings.
Yesterday was church for the first time without my husband. It felt so weird being the one to drive us there. Strange to stand singing without dear hubby next to me. It was good though. We’ve been attending this ‘new-to-us’ church, off and on, for a few months now. The entire service was mostly about a simple message of “Show and Tell”.
I’ve always been a good one for showing, in this life of mine. Telling… well… not so much, as some of you may have noticed. I am, however, amazed by how many still recognize my faith, even though I don’t often share it. Some of you have emailed me about this or that, and let me know we are in your prayers as we go through these changes in our family’s life. For that I am grateful, and feel blessed that you have been thinking of us.
My motto in life has always pretty much been:
We should never feel the need to ‘make’ others believe what we believe, instead, we should be living our lives in such a way that others would greatly desire what they see that we have. ~Pieternella A.W.
That’s my life’s quote, my own. To live my life in such a way that others would desire what they see I have. I don’t “not” share my faith because I’m embarrassed to. I don’t share, because I haven’t been asked to and I don’t feel it is my purpose in life, at this very time, to try to save the world. It is my purpose, at this very time in my life, to be here for my husband, and my children, and my extended family as they need me.
So, for those of you who read my blog and are Christians, don’t ever doubt my reasons for not sharing all that often, openly. My husband is much better at that then I am.
For those who are not Christians and read my blog, I hope you will continue to visit because although my faith is a very large part of who I am, and all that is important to me (love, peace, patience, kindness, etc…), it only makes me a better person. It does not cause the opposite. I will not judge you for not also sharing in my own faith, and simply ask that you not judge me for having that faith be a part of who I am.
If we are all truly one people, then we must learn to accept one another as we are. Not just when others are the ‘same’, or similar to us and how we live.
Remember that, dear mothers, as you go about your daily life today. I see it all too often in life, but even more so, online. Mothers tearing one another apart, because they are different in some way, how they raise their children, how many children they have, whether they choose to do this, or that, or the other… if you’re a mother online, you know the types of things I’m referring to.
Challenge yourself to be TRULY different.
To be loving and encouraging to one another no matter what.
It can be very difficult, if we’re truly honest with ourselves.
But it is a necessary challenge within ourselves if we are going to teach our children how to love one another, and really make this world a better place. We all know in our hearts it is not right to ‘bully’ & judge one another. We’ve all heard of the suicides, beatings and the other among our young people. Yet, do we understand it is the same when done amongst mothers? WE must teach our children, it starts with us, between ourselves. If we can not love one another, without judgement and condemnation, how then, can we expect this from our children?
So I guess, even though I do not feel it is my purpose at this very moment to “save the world”… I am doing what I know best, to equip MY children, to at least make this world a better place.
I’m simply teaching them to love, and that starts right here, right now, with me. ?
