Simplicities for October

I realize the month is almost gone, but maybe you can still take advantage of some of these ideas.  Maybe some of them you have already done and can reflect on the joy they brought to you and your family.  Either way, here's to a simple October!

* Plan an outing to a pumpkin patch.  Buy several pumpkins so you can carve, paint and otherwise decorate til your heart's content!  How about buying some little ones to turn into pies?  I cooked several last fall and had baggies of fresh pumpkin in my freezer through the summer. 

* Creat a seasonal table.  And it doesn't have to be the one you eat at!  Maybe use your piano or your mantel or a bookcase.  Angie over at Echoes of Laughter does a BEAUTIFUL job with seasonal decorating.  I get lots of ideas from her.  Thanks Angie!

* Try this fun idea for preserving fall leaves like they did in Victorian times:

                Trim branches from trees when the leaves have just turned and are at their best, before they start to dry.  Split the stems of the branches about 3 inches up from the bottom; stand them in a bucket of warm water for several hours.  If any leaves start to curl, pick them off.  Prepare a solution of glycerine and water by mixing one part glycerine with two parts water.  Glycerine can be found at pharmacies.  Bring the solution to a boil, gently simmer for 10 minutes and then let it cool completely.  Cut the bottom of your stems at a  very sharp angle and smash them with a hammer (wouldn't the kiddos love this part?)  Stand the stems up in the solution and store it in a cool, dark place until all the solution has been absorbed.  About a week to 10 days.  When you first notice tiny beads of glycerine beginning to form on the leaves, they are done!   Take them out of the solution, wipe them down with a damp paper towel and dry thoroughly.  The leaves will stay beautiful and bright for several seasons.  I think this one will have to wait til next season at our house.  Something to look forward to!

 

* Plant bulbs to show off next spring.  Tulips, crocus, daffodils.  How beautiful it will be!

* Mull cider and /or wine on the weekends.  Invite friends to enjoy it with you.  Our family enjoyed this on the first day of Autumn along with some gingerbread cookies.

 

So!

 

Before we get caught up in planning Thanksgiving dinner and all the other events in November, let's remember to enjoy October to its fullest.

 

 



Tomorrow

Yes, tomorrow.  Tomorrow is when I'll start.  Tomorrow, when things aren't so crazy.  Tomorrow, when I have a quieter day.  Tomorrow, when the kids are napping and the laundry is done.  Tomorrow...

Just curious...have you started a gratitude journal?  Have you started paying attention to the good gifts in your life?  Or are your intentions for beginning that "new project" scheduled for....tomorrow?  If you are making time to read blogs, may I challenge you to stop.  Right now.  Go find an odd, currently unused notebook (we all have them lying around, don't we?) and a pen and stick them under your pillow.  That's it.  Then you can come back to your blogging.

The life we live does not stop.  Just like the To-Do list is never finished, life rarely gives us a breather.  I don't know about you, but a common phrase running through my head is, "I really should be doing..."  There is always something I feel like I should be doing other than the fun thing I'd rather be doing.   I really should wipe down the baseboards, iron those clothes, scrub that bathroom floor, get Bud started on that school project.  What I want to do is spend some time scrapping, or decorating for fall, or practicing my crocheting.  But there's no time!  I'll have to put those off until, yes, you guessed it...tomorrow! 

In reality, what is the harm in delaying the scrubbing of the floor an hour while I bring out ceramic pumpkins and silk leaves?  Am I not making a home for my family?  What do I want my children to remember of their childhood?  A clean home with an unhappy mom, or a warm, inviting home (slightly less clean) with a warm, inviting mom?  It's about recognizing the things that make me happy and spending some time at them.  Then the dull To-Do list isn't so bad.  Like Mary Poppins sings, "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!"

Gratitude for yesterday:
a bird with its fluffed out feathers sitting in the lilac bush outside my kitchen window
the smell of ginger cookies baking
the smiles of my boyos as they eat those cookies
Classical Christmas music
watching Bud do his math with ease and confidence
hot coffee with half and half

What's on your list?

 

A bit more on Gratitude

(from Through Faith Alone: 365 Devotional Readings from Martin Luther)

"'It is better to look at what is in front of you than to go looking for what you want. Even this is pointless.  [It's like] trying to catch the wind.'    Ecclesiastes 6:9

Enjoying what you currently have is better than letting your heart wander.  You should make use of what is in front of you rather than wandering around full of desires.  This is what the dog in Aesop's writings did when he chased after the reflection in the water and lost the meat he had in his mouth.  You should use what God has placed before you and be satisfied with it.  You shouldn't try to satisfy your desires because they will never be satisfied.  Instead, you should use whatever God has placed in front of you.  All of it is very good. (Genesis 1:31)"


Luther goes on to challenge us to think about one who sees everything in front of him as nothing but a nuisance.  He doesn't use or enjoy these gifts.  Instead he lets his heart roam in discontent, searching for something different.  Maybe a different house, a different spouse, a different job, a different car.  More money, more possessions, more recognition.  And this does nothing but lead us to more despair and discontent.  It is, as quoted from Ecclessiastes, pointless.  It's like trying to catch the wind.  It cannot be done no matter how hard we work at it, how long we try or what methods we use.  We will never be able to satisfy ourselves. 

God has given us just what is needed for our seasons of life.  And, I believe, that when we respect that fact and give thanks for His goodness, He will grace us with even more goodness.   

 

 

 

Of Grace and Gratitude

The first phrase that came to mind when I sat down to write this was, "have an attitude of gratitude!"  That, and "remember to count your blessings!"  While both of these could be helpful in reminding us to be thankful, they make me cringe ever so slightly, like hearing fingernails on a chalkboard.  Those phrases come across, to me, as requiring a joy-filled heart even to start.  Or at least causing a, "By golly, nothings ever going to get me down again!" reaction once the attitude has been changed and the blessings have been counted.  You see, I'm slightly pessimistic.  Add that to my struggles with depression and I quite often find it hard to believe that my joy-filled heart will remain so for long.  That's life in this sinful world.  Sorrows come.  But the Lord is a gracious and loving Lord who has, in reality, filled our lives with every good and perfect thing.  It's just hard to see all that abundance in our own lives.  It's easy to see it in other people's lives.  Ever notice that?  The grass is always greener...

So, let's start a Gratitude Journal!  Let's stop looking out at everyone else's seemingly perfect lives and let's look down and see the gracious gifts we have right at our own feet.  Let's reflect at the end of each day and make a conscious effort to acknowledge the bits of happiness we experienced during the day.  My Gratitude Journal is a small spiral notebook I picked up at Target or some such place.  I keep it in a drawer by my bed along with a pen.  And, when I remember, I write down the things that made me smile that day; the things that brought me joy.  I write down things like "Mouse's giggle", or "Creamy coffee on the patio, listening to the birds sing", or "a drive in the fall colors."  Some days there doesn't seem there's much to write so I write the basics.  Our health, my hubby, the dog, food on the table.  Doesn't really matter what gets written.  It doesn't have to be anything poetic, either!  Just get into the habit of acknowledging the good.  Eventually, we'll begin to see good in everything we have.  And the more we see good in what we have, the less we will look elsewhere for what we think we need.  God is good.  And so is everything He gives to us.

Gratitude is the heart's memory.

                  -  French proverb

 

 

Authentic Self

Some more thoughts on the authentic self.

"What is this sadness we cannot name?  Here is a question that deserves a loving meditation.  Perhaps the heart of our melancholy is that we miss the woman we were meant to be.  We miss our authentic selves."      -      Breathnach

When I was a little girl I listened to music and stories on my little record player constantly!

 

I just loved that thing.  I would set up tea parties with my dolls and we'd sing the afternoon away.  I loved books, coloring and crafts, baking cookies with mom, Christmas and pretty shoes.  I think I had a pretty good sense of my authentic self.  I knew what made me happy and I did those things.  When I was in high school, I started on the path of losing that authentic self.  Don't you think all girls do?  The struggles to fit in, to look good, to read the right magazines, see the right movies, hang with the right kids.  Our morals, our ideas, our opinions, our voice all get challenged.  It can be so hard to hold on to ones authentic self.  This is where the parenting role comes in so strongly.  This is another topic altogether, isn't it?  But I hope you see my point.  Losing your sense of authentic self can begin early.  And I think from then on it comes in and out of focus, sometimes more easily recognized than others. 

 

"What is missing from many of our days is a true sense that we are enjoying the lives we are living.  It is difficult to experience moments of happiness if we are not aware of what it is we genuinely love.  We must learn to savor small, authentic moments that bring us contentment."   -   Breathnach

 

 

What are the small, authentic moments that bring YOU contentment? 

 

- trying a new recipe?

- slowly arranging a bouquet in order to appreciate the colors and fragrances?

- planning a spring garden in the February?

- sipping coffee in the sun?

 

Spend some quiet moments thinking of the things that bring you contentment.  You'll begin to recognize your authentic self.  It's so fun to do!

 

"Let us consider our personal preferences and learn how to recognize, then embrace, moments of happiness that are uniquely our own."      -   Breathnach

 

 

 

Discovering Simplicity

The thought of living a simple life has been on my mind, and on my heart, for several years now.  And it seems it's been on other people's minds for a lot longer than that, according to Thoreau.  What I've been pondering so heavily the past days, though, is what does it mean to simplify?  We all read blogs and most of us have discovered Pinterest, so the ideas for simplifying are out there.  Hundreds of ideas exist for simplifying and organizing your life, everything from the baby's diapers to the influx of papers at the start of school.  And so many beautiful ways to do it all, too!  The choices and the ideas are endless and can be overwhelming. 

But while I can take someone's idea on storing pots and pans more efficiently, I cannot take someone's simple life and make it mine.  I think that has been my stumbling block.  Searching and searching for simplicity when in actuality it's been within my grasp all along.  Someone else's simple life would not fit my family; it would not fit in the home we have made.  I think finding the simple life is all about a person's vocation(s). 

I am a wife, a mother, a homemaker, a crafter, a teacher, a musician, a writer, a band mom, a scout mom.  The list could go one.  And each of these vocations keep me plenty busy, so living simply is not about being less busy, but about being busy with your own life.  Not the life someone else wants you to live.  Not the life you think you should be living, but the life you have been given.  Does being reminded of this truth make my days happier, easier, less stressful?  Not necessarily, but it is easier to see purpose in what I do.  And that makes a world of difference.

Yet, I think there is still more to living simply.  I shared a treasure of a book a while ago written by Sarah Ban Breathnach.  Since then I have found a daybook written by her which I have also found interesting and helpful.  It's called Simple Abundance and while she is a bit paganistic for me, she does a wonderful job at encouraging us to find simple pleasures for ourselves.  She encourages the reader to dream, spend time in quiet reflection, craft and create a little each day, begin a gratitude journal - which I'll share on Monday - and so much more. 

You see, living simply is not about cutting out all outside activities, nor is it about quitting your most hated household chores.  It's about working at your vocation and finding the joy within it.  All we have is a gift of God.  That means my very life is a gift.  A gift!  Something to cause me happiness and to grow me into a better person.  I tell my boyos that sometimes we have to do things we don't like.  That means sometimes I just have to spend some time ironing!  I just have to!  Like it or not.  But I can also spend some of my day cutting paper for cards and scrapbooking.  Love cutting paper!  Crazy, huh?  But that is part of who I am. 

So, my hope is that as I go through more of my ponderings of a simple life, and as I blog about it, you will share your discoveries of your own simple life.  Maybe we can simplify together.  Encourage one another to live as our authentic selves.  The women/mothers/wives/friends we have been created to be. 

 

"Though we accomplish much of what we set out to do, we sense that something is missing in our lives and - fruitlessly - search "out there" for the answers.  What's often wrong is that we are disconnected from an authentic sense of self."                

                                                                                                  -Emily Hancock