Generosity

I have spent time with two people in the last week who are extremely generous. The funny thing is, they are each in very different stations in life. One is a SAHM mom of six, and one is a working woman who is married with no children, except for two puppies. Each of them are noticeably generous, and I wonder what might need to change within me to be generous like they are. One area I noticed their generosity is with food.

When we ate breakfast yesterday morning at a buffet, my Joel ate a good five courses of food. At home, I only let him have one bowl of cereal, as opposed to two or three, and he is welcome to eat other food, but he usually sticks with one bowl of cereal. I was amazed at how much he ate. He IS a growing boy, but wow, I had no idea he could put so much away. And while we were at my generous friend's house last week, Joel commented that he loves the atmosphere at her house. It was in the context of her putting out a great spread for lunch and I could see how much he enjoyed having so many things to choose from.

So often, buying, preparing, keeping track of inventory, etc. of food is something I do rather grudgingly. When I buy 12 boxes of cereal per week, I guess I get a little worried that it is going to be gone too soon. And it really does bug me that it often happens that Greg will look in the fridge in the evening, or in the cabinet and let me know that we do not have any cereal left.

Anyway, I noticed a real contrast between these two women and my own behavior. Not to get too inwardly-focused, but I would really like to learn to be more generous -- not only with my family and myself, but with people who come into my life. I think being generous with myself and my family would be a good place to start, though.

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Today in Des Moines

Today I experienced a few firsts; or at least, one. I got a pedicure. My brilliant sister-in-law, she of the Iowa Cubs idea, treated me, Valerie and Anna-Jessie to pedicures today. This is the first one the girls have had, which probably isn't surprising, but it may be surprising that I've never had one. And did you know that sometimes MEN give pedicures. A Vietnamese man gave my


toes a makeover and did a fine job. I've been looking at my pretty toenails all day long and wondering why I never did this before! Look at Valerie's pretty toenails! She had her pedicurist paint a music staff with notes on each big toe. So cool!

After lunch we went shopping at this older mall that almost everyone has abandoned, apparently, cause there was almost no one there. I don't know quite what has gotten into me, but I saw some extremely cool shoes and bought them on the spot. Valerie has informed me that she plans to steal them, which may mean I have bought something extra cool. Here they are:

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Minor League Baseball -- Good for What Ails Ya

My brilliant sister-in-law Terry thought of taking us to see the Iowa Cubs play tonight. Not only did we go to the game, but Terry and Jeff know like everyone in Des Moines, and were able to get parking passes, and a pass to the Cub Club, a restaurant where you can eat and watch the game at the same time. Way fun.

The kids all ended up with souvenirs -- t-shirts, hats, mini bats, and even a real baseball for Kepler.

The evening was made slightly challenging by "Jim," an employee of the ballpark who was intent on doing his job well and made sure none of us got concussions by sitting on the railing, and that none of us were trying to pull a fast one on the Cubbies by trying to sit in seats without tickets. He was a friendly guy, but really wanted to make sure no one tried to pull the wool over his eyes.

The Cubs were kind enough to win, and it was just a great ending to a very nice day.

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On the Road

Seeing as how I am a true STAY-AT-HOME kind of mom, traveling is a little stressful on mine own self. Even if the trip is fun and the stay is super duper, I always miss my bed, my kitchen, the feel of my carpet under my feet, my cluttery messes, etc.

And it is always kind of tricky to help Kepler assimilate to a new place, especially one where there are two puppies running around and trying to love him to death. He is not impressed, but is getting somewhat oriented towards the dogs.

So, I am writing from Des Moines, Iowa, where we are staying for another three days before making the big drive home on Friday.

I will try to write a few posts, but I can't promise they will be witty or wise. Maybe wistful. Maybe wandering.

Thanks for listening.

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I LOVE TO LIFT WEIGHTS

Although I am not a mouse, I think the body-shape is relatively accurate! I just returned from my second session with a personal trainer. And I am reminded that I absolutely love working out with weights. I always feel so strong and healthy when I finish. There are many benefits beyond just the initial high I feel, including stronger bones. My trainer's name is Javier. Personal training is expensive, I will grant you that, but I think it is a great choice for me, in light of my assignment and the fact that I really do need to take care of myself. Going to a PT takes care of me REAL GOOD.

I'll figure out one of those sidebar things that charts my progress for you and me. This is exciting!

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Walking Humbly

One of my volunteer jobs is taking care of the group book orders for our homeschool group. This is actually a pretty huge job and I like doing it. But I volunteered this year before I really thought or prayed about it. Now that I am already doing it, I received the first order today and it included a challenge with it!

Last year, people sent me orders any old way -- post-it notes, in the memo section of the check, on scraps of paper, etc. I kept track of it all, but realized that this year I wanted to make it simpler.

I created a book order form and asked people to complete it, print it out and mail to me with payment.

The FIRST order I received was via email from someone who told me her printer was broken and wanted me to print it out for her. I know that is not a huge deal in the scheme of things, but I saw it as a time I needed to choose -- am I going to take on the responsibility that other people have to deal with their own computer issues and print the form? Or am I going to set a boundary?

I decided to put the responsibility back on her. I am so anxious! It is so much easier to just take the responsibility on myself. But why should I? If this person were needing to print something to get a passport, I doubt she would email the post office and say, hey go ahead and print this yourself. Or if she needed to mail a form to a doctor or dentist, would she send them a website and tell them to download it themselves?

I emailed her and explained that I created the book order form this year to avoid the extra work I did last year without it. And I told her I would only accept completed printed forms by mail or in my hand.

Since she is probably CrazyBusy like all of us, she might not take this well. But I know this is the right thing for me to do.

Eek. Believing it's the right thing, and living with the anxiety it produces.

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I Think I Have the Assignment

While lunching with my good friend, Jean, yesterday, she commented on my dream post. Her sense was that God is asking me to redefine success. Her suggestion was that I begin to ask God if He wants me to do such-and-such and to listen more closely to Him about what to choose.

It JUST SO HAPPENS that I started reading this book called CrazyBusy and I had already begun to realize some ways to slow my pace down.

As I drove Kepler to the doctor yesterday afternoon, I decided to take that driving time to pray and think rather than listen to talk radio, or text (I know, I know). I asked God what the assignment is. A song came into my mind -- an old chorus I learned many years ago, based on Micah 6:8.

8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

I've been thinking I need a "mission statement" or something similar so that as I make decisions I can quickly ask myself "does this activity fulfill my three-point clear mission statement?" and if it doesn't I can confidently toss it aside and move onto the next thing.

CrazyBusy pointed out that this way of living modern life -- tossing things aside so we can get to the next one -- leads to the lack of doing the things we really want to do, and sometimes the things we really should do. God knows I have plenty of days where I do alot of stuff, but miss out on some of the things I really love, and some of the things that are really timely and important.

So, when Micah 6:8 came into my mind, I said, "Oh, God, you must be kidding. That is way too nebulous. I would have to actually sit down and think about what justice and mercy and humility would look like in my life." And I proceeded to put my thinking cap on again to see what God REALLY meant. But, something made me stop and say, OK. Maybe this IS the assignment.

I decided to consider this the assignment and allow my thinking to be overhauled, transformed, as it were. My "formidable intellect" as my friend Jean calls it, is the easiest thing for me to depend on when it comes to making decisions. But maybe said FI has gotten me into this mess. Being lightning-quick when it comes to making decisions is right handy when driving and needing to avoid something in the road, but can be downright inconvenient when my MO is to say yes to everything except the really hard stuff. Hard stuff like working with Kepler, helping another child learn to eat fewer carbs, helping another child learn to deal with strong emotions, another to deal with his love of being on the computer, another to deal with her tendency to see herself in an extremely favorable light and everyone else in an extremely unfavorable light. All those hard things aren't things I really want to face because they require persistence and patience and don't give any of those instant payoffs that the easy, urgent stuff gives.

So I'm off to listen some more and see how to fulfill the assignment today.

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