Inspire Me! Monday... Put your blinders on!

Welcome to the sporadic postings of Inspire Me! Monday. :)

Today will be a short post (okay- in retrospect it's not short at all- ha!), but hopefully a meaningful one as I share a thought with you that has been burning in my brain for days now.

A friend of mine (who I have mentioned before) who has an awesome blog, business and love for Jesus, wrote a post recently that I want to share with you.

Before I link you to it, I want to tell you what stood out to me most.  I don't know that these were her exact words, but they are close.  Here's what caught me eye (and what I can't get out of my head) from her post.

Wake up each day and do what God wants YOU to do.  Don't wake up and look at what another blogger, pinterester, friend, etc is doing and then wonder if you are doing enough.  Wake up and figure out how YOU are supposed to live YOUR life according to God's plan for YOU.  Period.

Here's the link to the Post: Little Bit Funky, A Resolution For Us All!

In general, I don't play the comparison game.  I don't look at Crystal's blog and think "She does so much and I feel insecure today, so I think I'll decide that she and others like her must not have her priorities straight."  Ummm.... no.

However, I DO fall prey sometimes to looking around at what others are doing and think... "Maybe I should be doing that too?  They are obviously amazing at following God and serving their family, so maybe I should follow their example!"

I forget that instead of modeling my life after really great people and all the great things they are doing, I should be modeling my life after ONE person.

Each day that I am given has a purpose and a plan.  And at this point, believe-you-me, it looks different than most other people's lives I know!  I am semi- housebound with a low immune-system child and 30 weeks pregnant with twins which makes me feel like a big walrus lumbering around.  I am realizing that in order to do what God wants me to do to serve my family in this season, it takes doing a very little bit at a time with a LOT of focus. 

What kind of terrible trap would I be setting for myself if I compared my list of *four things* I must do today to another person's of 10, 20 or 50 things to do today?  What have I gained if I spend my time chasing and trying to achieve what other people are doing if I am neglecting my own purpose in life?

So for Inspire Me! Monday today, think about God's purpose for you and you alone.  Take one step at a time no matter what your life looks like and know that God's plans are greater than what everyone else might be doing.  If we as Christians all focus on the His purpose for our lives, that is how we function as one body.  All of us have different roles, jobs and amounts of work to do based on our own special abilities.  Be encouraged that God created your purpose with you in mind.  And there is no shame in obedience to Him- even at the expense of not doing what everyone else is doing.  Today I pray that you will lay your life down to the only One that matters and find yourself to be lifted up.

Love,
Rachel

"You are worried and upset about many things, but only ONE thing is needed." Luke 10:42

"Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you^.  Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.  Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. " Proverbs 4:25-27

Forgetting to Eat and New Car Seat Recommendations

One of my best friends (I won't say names, but it rhymes with Rikel Rak) is notorious for getting so busy that she forgets to eat. I can't tell you how many times as teenagers hanging out at her house or going shopping I would be thinking "When are we going to eat lunch? I don't want to be rude, but how can she possibly not be starving right now?" And I would wait without saying anything until she finally realized how hungry she was and confess, "Good! I'm starving too!"

Well, un-named friend (*wink*), I am right there with you these days! With a baby, a job, a house to clean, my own business and a church to volunteer for I am constantly forgetting to eat. But it looks a little different than my super-productive best friend. What happens to me is that I gradually start moving slower in the day and suddenly while Melody is napping I find myself sitting at the computer browsing and thinking "I should be doing something right now. I should wash dishes or fold laundry, but I just feel so tired... Why do I feel so tired? Oh yeah! I haven't eaten lunch!" Sometimes then I will get up and eat something, but sometimes I get distracted in my over-tired and hungry state and forget to eat again.

There is a lesson to be learned here. No lunch = tired, distracted mommy! :)

Now, on to the more serious stuff... For all my mommy friends out there, have your heard about the new car seat recommendations?

The AAP is now recommending that infants stay in rear facing car seats until 2 years old or until they outgrow the height and weight guidelines for the seat. They are encouraging parents to use rear facing seats (such as a convertible car seat) that will hold larger children up to 35 or 40lbs in the rear facing position.

Being unaware of these new guidelines, Christian installed and I excitedly watched as Melody got to ride for the first time in her new forward facing car seat last Saturday.


Isn't she adorable?!

Then my sister let me know about the new rules. (Thank you, Renee!) Luckily, our old car seat is approved for children up to 30 lbs which I chose knowing that I would probably have a larger baby. Melody is currently 21.6 lbs according to my digital scale at home and is now one year old. That puts her right on the cusp of being ready for a forward facing car seat by the old standards. We had made the decision to switch her since the straps on her old car seat were becoming so snug they were making her uncomfortable while riding in the car. After reading the new info though (which can be found here and here), Christian found a way to lengthen the straps on our current car seat, so that Melody can stay rear facing for several more months.

So I guess she will continue to look like this for awhile longer... only bigger of course!




So what about you? Do these new recommendations effect your child? Will you be following them?