Archives for 2012

The Summer of 7: Possessions

June 17, 2012 by Amy 9 Comments

Wow. I was so ready to do this week of possessions. Possessions week was actually the first and only week I had planned on doing when I first saw that Katrina was looking for bloggers to join up. I knew my house needed a good shaking and cleaning out but ya’ll! It’s hard!

The first day I gathered items from my laundry room, kitchen, dining room, living room and part of my office. A few observations:

I didn’t have nearly as many things in my kitchen to get rid of as I thought. I really thought I’d have boxes of things to sell but I didn’t. Perhaps I just need to organize my cabinets and clean my counters to make it feel cleansed in there.

We had a ton of CDs and DVDs that we NEVER use. Just as an example, I had Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean and New Moon that I watched ONCE after I bought and then they’ve just sat there doing absolutely no good in my cabinet. Why???

Purging hurt the most in my office. I have a special love of books. I seriously just love standing in a book store and looking out at all the books. I know the heart and soul that goes into writing and then all the hands that touched it to get it to print. I just love books. But I have had books sitting around since I read them the first (and only) time and now some of them aren’t worth even $1. And the worst part is I still didn’t want to get rid of them when I knew I couldn’t get any money out of them. I figured it was better to let them sit there than to get rid of them for next to nothing. Why??? Why would I hoard them when it’s very obvious I’m not reading them, no one else is and it’s simply taking up room in my office creating more clutter. I mean, really. I’m doing some deep digging on why I do any of it…spend $10 on something I’ll only read once, let books sit around when I know I won’t read them again, and then hoard the book when I know I’m not using it and can’t get money out of it. Why???

The other oddity I’ve come across is my need to keep empty boxes of electronics. I hate to admit this but I still had ALL THREE of my iPhone boxes, even from my 3G that I bought YEARS ago. My initial intent on keeping boxes was to have the original box when I resell it. But guess what? I’ve never shipped an used iPhone in the original box so why in the world have I not just dumped the case each time I get a new one? I still had my Kindle box, my web cam box and my digital camera box. Why???

I’m not sure I have answers yet on all these why’s but I definitely see some attachments and habits that are not healthy. I’m scared to touch my closet and see what I’m hanging onto and why. As to what I’m doing with all these things…well first, if you are in the market for some DVDs or books, let me know and I might do a blog sale. If not, my friend Dani and I are planning a huge double yard sale for charity in 2 weeks! I can’t wait.

To check out more posts on possessions…

The Summer of 7: Stress Week

June 16, 2012 by Amy Leave a Comment

So it’s stress week and I haven’t posted a thing. We spent a wonderful week in Hilton Head, SC. I’ll admit planning a stress-free week during a vacation week was sort of a cop-out. I mean, who gets stressed with their feet in the sand during the day and a plate full of crab at night? Well, come to think of it, I know people who’d get stressed about either of those things but that is neither here nor there. I was not.

Although I didn’t have my normal stress points like getting work done AND taking care of kids or having too many errands to count, I did find myself in a few situations that I could feel stress coming on. I tried to pinpoint the cause and came out with four trigger points

Fear

I shouldn’t be surprised. Fear is definitely always been a trigger for me in so many areas. But this week I realized that I get stressed when I have a fear of the unknown or fear of my family’s safety. I think, think, think too much about all the alternative endings to the point I’m tensed and stressed. I truly believe in so many cases I’m just being ridiculous.

As a small example, the kids this year decided they could jump the waves by themselves. I sat in a chair at the edge of the water but then I’d get worried and go stand in the water 10 or 15 feet closer. Standing there, I realized that being 10 feet closer was not going to help a whole lot. In reality, they were doing just fine by themselves and I could just LET GO of the stress. The only thing it changed was my stress level. Seriously. Me being worried did not make the kids handle the waves any differently. It didn’t make sharks not swim near them. It didn’t emit some sort of force field so jelly fish wouldn’t sting them. Worrying did not one single thing to help the situation.

Sure, we have safety issues to consider as parents but I’d guess most of the time our stress is fear-induced and POINTLESS.

Lack of control

I’ve been coming to the realization I can be a control freak. When I feel things slipping, I get stressed. This is especially difficult when I’m dealing with other people’s problems. In my “real job,” I’m a problem solver. People come to me with problems and we figure out a technical solution to them. And getting to the solution involves even more problems to fix. I like to know all the variables, pick a solution and go with it. Again, I think, think, think until I feel like I have the best solution. I try to do this with other people’s problem and it just creates a ton of stress for me. Again, the solution to this is to LET GO. Sure, I can care but that doesn’t mean I have to solve everyone’s problems. I couldn’t even if I tried.

Unmet expectations

I’m not sure if the result of unmet expectations is more anger than stress but I got that tense feeling come over me when the girls just did not want to do what I wanted to do one night this week. When we have something planned or expect something of someone and it doesn’t happen? Stress! We want things to happen the way we planned OR ELSE. Can you think of the solution? Yep. LET GO. It’s totally fine if plans change or you have to maneuver around a new set of circumstances. Just GO WITH THE FLOW.

Disorder

The most stress I felt all week is when we were trying to get out the door to the beach. I realized I had not planned enough in advance and I was washing clothes and dishes as were going out the door. I must have gotten out of the van at least 3 times to grab things I remembered last minute. I realized if I’d have just prepared a little more in advance I could have prevented a lot of stress. And even more than that, the things I did need should have been organized into a place where I would have known right where to get them.

The ironic part of this point is that hard work sometimes leads to less stress. You might think that being lazy and not working as hard would lead to a stress-free life but I’ve found just the opposite: work hard now and you can play hard later. I just need to learn to balance that when all my plans don’t quite go as expected.

My take-away from this week can be summed up in the words of Timon and Pumbaa "Hakuna Matata, it means no worries for the rest of your days…” Seriously, I just need to get myself organized, plan a little more and then LET GO.

Read more posts from the Summer of 7 participants on Stress and link up below!

Mister Rogers

June 8, 2012 by Amy 3 Comments

First order of business on my less stress week. The viral Mister Rogers video.

I’m mesmerized. Scott heard Mister Rogers singing "the garden of your MIINND" from my computer today and said, "Are you listening to that again?" and started laughing at me. I clearly remember watching Mister Rogers and didn’t think much of it then. I mean, I knew I liked it but listening back, I see parts of my beliefs I hold dear just from that clip.

It’s good to be curious.

Everyone is unique.

I know I owe a lot of that to my parents but Mister Rogers was part of that. A very beautiful part of it. Maybe my mom will comment and say, "Amy, you don’t know what you’re talking about, you only watched that a few times." I don’t remember enough to know how often or many times I watched it. I just know when I watch this I feel safe and happy and grateful and definitely less stressed.

Summer of 7: Goodbye Food, Hello Stress. Er, Hello Food, Goodbye Stress.

June 8, 2012 by Amy 5 Comments

My week of food for the Summer of 7 is over in just a few hours. My original goal was no desserts, only water and no take-outs. I can tell you what I missed: OJ in the morning, coffee and having a treat in the evening. I honestly did not miss eating out one little bit. Well, eating in at work was awful but as far as dinners went, I didn’t miss it. Perhaps it wasn’t an excess like it has been in the past. In good news, I lost a pound just by cutting that out. Have I mentioned how I’ve lost 10 pounds since we went gluten-free (and I totally changed my eating habits)? Hm. Yeah. And it seems to be staying off. I’ve been maintaining the past month or so but this last week of basically cutting out the excess literally cut out a little excess on me.

But most importantly, the lesson I’m taking from this week is from my Leftovers post. When I give anything, not just food, I will be reminded of this week and remember not only to give, but to consider the quality. And further, remember the widow that gave all she had, not just out of her abundance. Ouch. That still hurts.

As of this evening, it’s goodbye to stress. I’m changing up what I had planned. I’ll be candid here and say I hadn’t read the stress chapter in the book yet when I planned my “rules” but went ahead and put down what Jen had done. I didn’t buy the book to do the prayers and just like Jamie, loading myself up like this I think would cause me more stress so I’m letting go this week. I sat and thought of what relaxes me and here it is:

Having coffee/interacting online with friends
Reading
Writing
Doing nothing on the beach
Spending time in prayer
Spending time in the word
Being creative
Cooking

So there are no rules around those. I’m just going to try to do them more. We’re on vacation all week and it’s totally possible. You might see a ton more posts this week because I write more or I may let go of any duty I feel towards writing. Who knows! It’s all about less stress, baby!

Below are the other FOOD week related posts. You can still jump in and participate so don’t think it’s too late!

Leftovers

June 6, 2012 by Amy 15 Comments

I’m going to be honest. Summer of 7 had me in a funk earlier today. I left a sleeping family this morning to drive in the rain for 45 minutes to go to the office and I was just a little irritated that I couldn’t have my once-a-week Starbucks like I normally do when I head to the office. I couldn’t even have my French pressed Dunkin Donuts. If I’ve missed anything this week I’ve missed coffee. I’m not addicted to the caffeine. I’ve had no headaches and I haven’t been tired. I just miss the smell and the warmth and it’s just plain comforting.

Then because I’m not doing take-out I had to take some leftovers from last night for lunch. Ranch chicken and a baked potato. I don’t want to sound whiny but I pretty much hate leftovers unless it’s Italian. And then our barely-there microwaves didn’t heat it well. And we were out of sour cream. So I was eating dry chicken with a reheated baked potato with only butter. With water. I hated lunch today.

I started giving myself a pep talk about how I should be grateful I have a job to take leftovers to and the fact that I had leftovers to take. But really the bottom line was the food was not good. So then I started thinking about people that struggle for food. I’ll admit I kind of always assumed that people that were hungry loved any food they got their hands on. But, you know. I’m pretty sure that’s not true. So I thought about how we’re feeling pretty good about giving people our excess during Summer of 7 and then I thought well that’s not so noble. Giving people what we don’t want, especially our seconds, doesn’t magically make someone ecstatic to have it. I thought about Alene’s post where she posted a letter from a former homeless person and how he said you always had to watch out for mold because many donated items were old. And then I thought about how God gave us his very best in Christ and it really made me think not just about giving but the quality of what we give.

If I were super hungry and someone had given me the dry chicken and the reheated potato I would have eaten it gratefully but I don’t know. I just don’t think giving leftovers is what Jesus would do.

Mark 12:41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

You can read more posts about the food week of Summer of 7 below:

Garden Update

June 5, 2012 by Amy 5 Comments

It’s been just shy of 2 months since I planted my first garden. So far I’ve been able to harvest lettuce, basil, parsley, broccoli and as of last night, jalapeno peppers. They were two smallish peppers that I turned straight into stuffed jalapenos to eat with our burgers and let me tell you they were HOT. I had read that I could leave them on the plant longer to get hotter but I like them mild and wow, I’m glad I pulled them when I did. It was SO NICE though being able to have those and not have to go to the store to pay an arm and leg at the store.

OK last I updated you, it was about one month ago:

Wow. It’s amazing to look at that now. Since then, we talked with our farmer’s exchange and they recommended we take out some of the dirt on the right bed that was having issues and replace with some soil. He then gave us some FREE replacement plants with a few extra plants. Super nice folks there!

This below picture is about 2 weeks ago, just about 2 weeks after the above picture. As you can see my tomatoes exploded and also the zucchini he gave us on the right there started exploding too. The broccoli stems were hanging down to the ground and this is the day I took the broccoli plants out.

So it’s been about two weeks since that and I moved a few things over in place of the broccoli and here’s where we are today:

As you can see the tomatoes and zucchini are taking over.Tomatoes from the side. They’re trying to grow through the fence.

We’ve got a ton of tomatoes actually growing.

More peppers are under way

And I actually have blooms on my zucchini!

My parsley, basil, marigolds and nasturtium flowers are all doing well too.

Look ma, I have a real garden!

I really cannot tell you how much I’ve enjoyed this garden. Yes, part has been frustrating but I love tending to it and I just can’t even explain the peace I get when I’m there. I know it’s just two piddly beds but something really speaks to me working it. Most recently, God really spoke to me through that right bed which had too much fertilizer. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. I think this is particularly poignant this week as I stare down the excess of food in my life through Summer of 7. Food is good. Very good. But too many desserts, too much unused food, too much caffeine, or too much take out is bad. Even having a garden and having an excess that is not used is not good. I was so happy to give away some extra basil yesterday and it was just so right. Not that I want to pat myself on the back but I want to say that growing my own food, using what I need and then giving away the excess is definitely something I want to pursue more.

Weekend Recap

June 4, 2012 by Amy 1 Comment

Scott the DRE

Good morning. This weekend was best of all because Scott came home! He reached his goal of becoming a Drug Recognition Expert. Just like an officer can do a few tests on the side of the road to determine if someone is under the influence of alcohol, he has learned a set of tests that can determine what category of drug someone is on, be it stimulant, depressant, etc. As I type this, he is at the hospital after being called in to test someone they had arrested. He will be considered an expert now in that court case.

He spent two weeks in Columbia last month learning all kinds of medical stuff and then just spent a week in Arizona in a jail testing people and then doing a 6 hour long test. We’re all very proud to say the least. That said, I was VERY happy to have all that over and done with and have him home last night.

Gluten-Free Expo

While he was away this weekend, a few highlights included attending a gluten-free expo in Charlotte. Normally, no matter where we go I am always on alert about food. I have to question everything and feel like I’m running defense for Emma to protect her from eating something that might make her sick. We walked into the expo where about 50 vendors, including the likes of Glutino and Udi’s, had samples out and I leaned down to Emma and said, “You can eat ALL of this!” Not since we’ve started have we been anywhere where every morsel of food was gluten-free. It was divine.

Let Me Run Race

Saturday evening I was able to attend a local race for an organization called Let Me Run via our big volunteer day with my work. Let Me Run is sort of like Girls on the Run but for boys. I volunteered as the Social Media Ambassador as let me tell you, I loved it. My job was purely to post pictures and statuses to Twitter and Facebook as the event went along. I mean, how fun is that? I also pitched in to organize bags and put tattoos on some kids and that was super fun too. Seriously, does anyone have a Social Media position open because I am ON IT. The end of the race was pretty spectacular too. A finish line never fails to bring tears to my eyes. As I watched the kids coming in knowing all the work they had put into it, I couldn’t help but clap and holler for them in celebration. Doesn’t it remind you of the race we are running and that “well done” we strive for at our heavenly finish line? Gah, I love that.

Man Card

Sunday we kicked off a fantastic service called Man Card. It’s all about biblically manhood. I’m telling you, even after just the first service, I know every male needs to hear this one. Seriously, if you’re a guy, hightail it over here and if you’re a gal, send all your favorite boys and men over there too.

Summer of 7

And finally, I wanted to touch on the first few days Summer of 7. This week is food week for me. No dessert. No take-out. Nothing but water. I think I somewhat failed at the expo and didn’t even realize it. A lot of the samples were cupcakes, cookies and brownies so technically that fell in the dessert category but I gave myself a pass since I wasn’t eating it with the intent of having a treat, just to sample food I would not otherwise.

Saturday night after the race was super hard not to eat dessert. I’d had a long day, the kids were spending the night elsewhere and it just would have been the perfect time to eat a bowl of ice cream. I felt sorry for myself and then remembered that some people didn’t even have dinner that night and quit my whining.

Sunday morning I missed not having coffee at church. No compensation there. I just missed it. Sunday dinner I sat down and drank a few sips of sweet tea before I realized what I was doing. I changed it out for water and kept going. As I drank I thought of all the people who don’t have clean water to enjoy. As fate would have it, on the way home we passed a homeless person asking for money. My friend Dani had put the word out just a few days ago to help if we had seen this one particular lady so I grabbed all the cash I had and gave it to her. It’s not the first time I’ve done that but it was a well-timed reminder that what we do with our money and how we view food matters. It still has not left me thinking about her living outside and worrying about every meal. Drinking water and eating as many meals and snacks as I want doesn’t seem so bad anymore. If anyone should eat a bowl of ice cream, it ought to be her.

Have you thought about joining us for Summer of 7? I can honestly say in just a few days it’s made an impact and it’s not too late!

I’m looking forward to the rest of the week as we’re headed out to Hilton Head this weekend! Hope you had a great weekend and have a great week!

Summer of 7: The Why

June 1, 2012 by Amy 10 Comments

My mom left a very concerned message yesterday on my post announcing Summer of 7. I trust her a lot so it got my attention. I’ll admit I had to take a step back and say why is this important? Why am I really pushing myself here? I thought it was worth sharing so you don’t misconstrue what’s happening here.

The first thing I want to touch on is surprisingly a quote from Downton Abbey from the beloved Mr. Carson “What would be the point of living if we didn’t let life change us?”

Good question, Mr. Carson. Because I for one am on a journey. But it’s not just a journey to be a perfect, good-girl Christian. My journey is to be more Christ-like and that means not being perfect (it’s impossible, folks!), but loving God and other people more (Jesus says this is the most important thing!). I also believe love is a verb and so when I become more Christ-like, yes, I do believe that my character will change but that also means my actions will change. But as my former pastor Loran Livingston said, “Works are a result of our faith not a prerequisite.” In other words, I’m not going to end up doing these things so God will love me more or my good will outweigh my bad when I get to heaven. Not at all. I believe Jesus did ALL the work I will ever need on the cross for my salvation.

When I search scriptures, I see he really has a heart for the poor and the downtrodden and the people bound up. In fact, the Bible says in James, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” In Matthew it says, “I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” This is just the tip of the iceberg. These are all DOING things. But you don’t do these things so you can BECOME a Christian. It’s the things you should want do BECAUSE of what Christ did for us. Above all, I believe that’s how we show people who God is and live out the gospel.

So what does this have to do with 7? Here is just a snippet of how I think the 7 categories fit into what I talked about above:

When I eat the right foods, I’m taking care of my body. When I take care of my body, several things happen. First, I am more fit so I can physically complete the good works that God has planned for me and for much longer. Second, I am free from the financial burden of healthcare. And third, I free up my time dedicated to diagnosis, treatment and healing. Let’s not even talk about the quality of life even if you aren’t “sick”. So when I am well and have more time and money, guess what? I can help others more.
When I am less stressed, once again this can have less effects on my health and I am not thinking so much about me, me, me. I can think and pray more for OTHERS.
When I can free up my things, I can bless someone else and also not be ruled by my possessions. Possessions have a funny way of multiplying and taking over. More, more, more! When we let go of possessions we not only let go of them in our hearts but again, it frees up more finances.
When I let go of a preoccupation with clothes, I free up money, time and most of all PRIDE.
This is a huge one but spending! Wow, can we Americans get tied up in our spending. When we free up finances, we can change the world. And I don’t say that lightly. I have read too much and heard about too much not to care about where my money goes. My money needs to be funneled to the poor, mistreated and hurting.
Media. I see this simply a thief of our time that we could be doing good works. There are other downsides (you know that part of being polluted by the world?) and upsides to media (connecting with others to love them well!) but for me, it’s time. I’m not quitting media altogether but I do see it as something that needs managed well. This will certainly be a reminder of just how much I’m using media.
Waste. I think God gave us the earth to take care of it. When we take care of the earth, we’re also taking care of each other, particularly the generations that come after us.

OK, so do you see? I want to love people better and I think by reducing things in my life, I can. I’m not being legalistic. In fact, I want to be FREE from these excesses so I can help others be FREE in Christ. I want to do and be more with what God has given me. Why? Because I want people to know God’s love. I truly believe LIFE is found through his good news!

Now I am FAR from the picture of this person doing good works all the time. But I’m on the journey of loving people more. I think Summer of 7 is just a time to hop off the spinning top of life for a moment. I hope during each of these weeks the times of strain will be times of prayer and reflection in that area and as Mr. Carson said, let [Jesus] change me a bit. The VERY last thing I want to do is mark off this list and then continue exactly the way I was before. I am SO tired of those kinds of exercises. I don’t want to stay in these restrictions because I believe in God we are truly free but I don’t want to leave unchanged. Make sense?

So does that help you see where I’m going with this? And more importantly, have you gotten your book yet??