Drew and Alex…still clinging to “archaic” modes of communication, the clipboard
It is truly hard to comprehend how much life has changed in the last ten years. I don’t refer just to my own life, although the last ten years have meant beginning a relationship with Matt that was more than a friendship, getting married, adopting a nervous dog, moving five times, working multiple jobs, and birthing two children. Think about the changes in regards to technology’s impact. Smart phones, internet speed, blogs, TIVO and even the “infamous” Cyber Monday. According to Wikipedia, it debuted in 2005 and soon becoming one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. Yesterday, horror of horrors….on a SUNDAY, I created my own window of time to shop online, almost completing our list of purchases. I am grateful that list gets shorter and shorter each year, even as the “littles” get bigger and bigger. Christmas lights, window displays, samples at Williams Sonoma and strains of holiday music pull and taunt to come, but I am trying very hard to say no. It is a discipline for me. For when I go into those places, something psychological happens. A switch turns inside and my cold, unused credit card starts pulsing, ready to come to life. We have almost gone without that card for the year and it is certainly a relief to be free of its power, I have to say.
So today, for Cyber Monday, I’m meeting with my Spiritual Director over Skype. My chance to use the internet to bring some levity and focus to my faith journey. To look into the patterns of my thoughts and life and see where God is moving, what message God is whispering while life clamors around. I also figured that sharing a few posts that have really spoken to me this week might be in order. Most of them of loosely linked to motherhood, but I think they are applicable to all. Times have been tough in the parenting realm {RELATIVELY, folks…I get it….not third world tough, but, hard nonetheless}. These words have spoken life to me and I hope they do for you too.
The first post I wanted to share was written by Micha Boyett entitled, Our Hearts Are Stone and Flesh All at the Same Time. Use that link to read the entire post, but here’s an excerpt, “Friday night I was putting him to bed and praying for him, my hands smoothing hair from his eyes, rubbing his back. I quoted one of my favorite passages in Ezekiel, prayed, “God, give him a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone.”
“What does that mean, Mama?” My kid rolled over to face me. I could make out his eyes staring up at mine in the night-dark room.
“It’s a metaphor, buddy,” I said. (Yes, we use words like metaphor with our kids. We’re book nerds. What can I say?) “It means I’m asking God to make your heart soft so you can hear God’s voice and so God can make you more and more like Jesus. If your heart is hard like stone you forget how to love and you forget how to listen to God.”
He rolled away from me to face the wall, whispered, “Mommy, I’ve got both those hearts in me.”
Sarah Bessey is currently re-posting popular pieces as she races to finish up some writing projects. One that she shared this week was from June of 2011 before I was regularly reading her writing. It is entitled, “In Which I am Speaking Life::Practices of Mothering.” Take a big gulp before reading this one. Here’s a short quote from it that has been on my mind since Saturday when I first read it, “I see my life – and the lives of my tinies – as fertile ground. And the words I scatter so carelessly around me can take root in the hearts and minds of us all, giving a narrative deep in the core about ourselves, the God we love, each other and our world.”
Laura Tremain at The Hollywood Housewife, talked about the challenge of breaking from traditions, especially at the holidays, and starting new memories with a growing family. These decisions are tough for so many reasons and I loved her reflections in today’s post, “Play Doh Psych Out.”
I have also had the true gift to receive some posts for the Vision from the Frontline series. These words will be shared over the next few weeks, and I must say, I am already soaking in the wisdom shared, one even bringing me to tears last night as I read the first draft. I can’t wait to share them here soon.
Blessings as you wield your fingers over the keyboards and mice today, going about your business, checking your phone for important updates, sales & emails. Take a break once in awhile, look around and take in the “other worldly”….the gifts of non-man made glory, and remember the other parts of Cyber Monday that live, breathe and move naturally.
These Stones 