Peanut

I have been away for a few weeks because we have had another foster care adventure!  A little over two weeks ago we got a call from our foster care agency asking if we wanted to foster a premature infant.  He would come home on oxygen and an apnea monitor and was expected to progress quickly at home.  We had to give an answer in a few minutes since it was Friday and baby Peanut (we'll call him) needed to be discharged Monday. 

A quick phone call to my husband and a short prayer together later, we were foster parents (again!).  This time to a baby. 

Since then it has been a roller coaster.  Preemies are hard.  Peanut is like a newborn even though he is around 2 1/2 months old.  He is on oxygen so being at home a lot (as opposed to trips to the park, etc) is the best plan for him, but he still has lots of doctors appointments.  We have had a few apnea/turning blue scares at home.  One which resulted in a trip back to the NICU for several days to be monitored. 

Most recently my emotions have been on overload as I process how this poor little baby has lacked an advocate for the first two months of his life.  Someone to notice when he has reflux (not diagnosed until Christian and I came on the scene) or a milk intolerance (have begun suspecting this in the last couple of days).  He hasn't had anyone to make sure he has learned to distinguish days from nights... sing him to sleep... or be a consistent parent to receive love from. 

Peanut has not necessarily come to stay with us permanently (in case you were wondering)... but we already love him as though he were ours.  Caring for him during this fragile time in his life is going to be a special thing, and I am so thankful we get to do it.  

Just as before, I will be limited to how many details we can share about Peanut's situation, but mostly I wanted to share with you where I've been and what an amazing adventure God has us on.

.... and while I have your attention, I would also like to ask for prayers for Peanut for these things...  

• His lungs to develop fully and properly... and soon. 
• His episodes of apnea to go away entirely.
•  His birth family... all foster children need prayer for God's intervention in their birth families... 
• Wise choices to be made on Peanut's behalf by everyone involved in his life- from doctors, to specialists, to social workers, to foster parents and everyone else.

Thank you for your support and prayers on Peanut's behalf!

Love,
Rachel

Bible Reading Plan

 

I signed up for a Bible Reading Plan!  

I'm sure there is a whole host of people who might not think this is exciting, but to me... it is! 

I have had trouble for a long time with Bible reading because I have started to feel like I have been doing the same thing for too long.  I have tried reading the Bible from beginning to end (you have no idea how many times I have read and re-read Genesis) and I have used the open-your-bible-and-see-where-you-land-approach (which is how I have read most of my Bible so far).  Those methods are great, but lately I have felt lost when I open my Bible.

So today I googled "Bible Reading Plan" and found this website.

I signed up for two plans: reading the Old Testament in 2 years and reading the New Testament in one year.  I think it comes out to 2 chapters per day.  I am not a super focused gal so reading two chapters a day from the Bible is probably about as much as I can handle.


Now when I have quiet time, I have a flexible plan.  I plan to try to choose to do some or all of the following things on any given day.

* Read/study the two chapters that are recommended in my Daily Reading Plan

* Read a short devotional 

* Have some journal time

* Time in prayer

* Read another book of some type that is uplifting

That may seem like a lot, but I am a girl who really likes to have reflective time.  I could be reflective ALL DAY LONG (but if I did that I guess I wouldn't have much to reflect on- at least about my own life- since I wouldn't actually be DOING much). 

The main gist is this: I don't plan on doing all the things on the list above every day, but I DO plan on (1)reading scripture, (2)having some type of response/study (such as prayer, journaling, researching more about it what I read) and then (3)if I have/want more time with God, I can do it by choosing something else I enjoy.

Surely, I am not the only one who has had trouble keeping their time with God fresh over the years.

So what do you do to keep your time with God from getting too run-of-the-mill?  

God is not a boring God, in my opinion, so it makes sense to me that we shouldn't always relate to Him the same way all the time.

I remember serving in Miami, feeding the homeless on Sunday mornings and another intern saying, "This is my church today."  Sometimes we encounter God in unconventional ways!

Love,
Rachel

Inspire Me! Monday: I'm back

I am taking a deep breath as I write this post.  Breathe in.  Breathe out. 

Nothing truly substantial has happened in my life in the last two weeks, just a busy week followed by an impossibly exhausted week.  My husband said that last week was a Super Moon... or a Super Full Moon or something.  Meaning that not only was it a full moon but that it was the closest the moon can possibly be to the earth.  I was just talking to a friend in church who said that last week she was extremely exhausted also and lived for a week in a "brain fog."  Then on Sunday morning we both felt a lot better. 

Christian was awesome last week-end.  I lived for an entire week where each day I would say to myself "I'll go to bed early and feel better tomorrow," then I would lay in bed for two hours without being able to fall asleep and awake to being more tired than before.  Finally though, my hubby was able to give me the day off on Saturday.  I literally laid in bed almost all day.  I wasn't sick- just tired- so it was hard not to feel guilty... but Christian's brother was in town also (Hi Austin if you are reading this!)  and he was a big help with Melody.  Then Saturday night I fell asleep about 8pm and slept until 9am on Sunday morning... 13 hours of sleep... 13 hours of sleep!  Who does that?! 

Apparently I do. 

Apparently I needed to.

I felt like a whole new person on Sunday morning...

Thus the title of this post...

I'm back!  I feel more like myself than I have in awhile and I have so many thoughts I am looking forward to sharing with you soon.

In the meantime here are some inspiring (and a bit random) posts to read from across the blog world.

What I made for Monday: Easy Cookies

Freezer Cooking:  A Day's Work-out to Be Thankful for Later

Playroom Progress: Basket-Labeling

Do You Live Slowly?

And tell me, were any of you affected by the Super Full Moon this last week? 

And do I even have that right? A Super Full Moon?

Haha... it's good to be back!

Love,
Rachel

Another week

Hi Blog world friends!

I am sorry to have to say this, but I am bailing on you again this week.  The past week has been exceptionally busy and I need an hour to rest instead of write a blog post.  I do believe that life will return to its' normal pace soon though and I will finally get to write one of the 502 interesting things that are currently rolling around in my head. 

Right now though, I need a nap.  After that, I have a lot of things to get done.  Life comes first! 

I would love to see you back on Monday though.

Blessings to you!

A Day Off

I am taking a little break from the blog world this week.  Just trying to unplug and refresh a little.

I hope you have a great week!  See you next Monday!

Love,
Rachel

Inspire Me! Monday: Take Care of Yourself

I talked last week about cleaning... and wow! I guess the posts I found and the books I've been reading truly have been inspiring me. I have seen more change in myself and better results in my home this past week than ever before in my life.

I have made some simple changes that have led me to even deeper discoveries about myself. Here they are...

1. Grocery shopping on Sundays - What a blessing to let Christian take care of Melody and shop without distractions. This allows me to get more done during the week which makes Saturday day my "day of rest."

2. Laundry on Mondays- I love knowing that Monday is coming and I will KILL the laundry piles! Putting on a movie and folding laundry at the end of the night is actually fun! I smile at the pile of clean clothes growing on the couch all day since I know what personal "me" time I'm going to get at the end of the night:) Then I put everything away that night that I can and the rest gets put away the next day.

3. "Clean the House" on Thursdays- This day is for cleaning up before the week-end. My husband gets stressed in a messy environment. Now I can clean the house on a day when it counts to him. If the house is messy during the week, it is easier for him to handle since he isn't home very much. It is a great goal to be able to rest in a clean house (and maybe even invite people over!) on the week-ends!

4. Let the other days go! - Know that not every moment of my life needs to be filled with productivity. I am working to make some days REALLY count and other days have some give and take to them as I manage our home, motherhood and working 2 part time jobs.

I am breathing a huge sigh of relief because I feel I have FINALLY found a taking-care-of-my-home routine that works for me...

Whew...

Although that is a post in itself, I needed to share that so I can also talk about what is happening in my brain now that I am freed up from (a little bit of) messiness in my house.

I have realized that in my usual daily frenzy, I try to tackle EVERYTHING, ALL THE TIME and therefore don't take care of the ONE THING that is most important... me!

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Covey describes this as "taking care of your goose." He says that if you have a goose that lays golden eggs, what good are the golden eggs without the goose? You have to care about the goose (so it continues to lay eggs) just as much as you care about the eggs (i.e. the product or productivity).

Translation:
If I don't take care of myself, of course my house will be in shambles... I won't have the energy for it!
If I don't take care of msyelf, of course my daughter will be cranky... She has a cranky mama!
If I don't take care of myself, of course my husband is more likely to be argumentative... I am probably not being so nice to him if I'm not doing well.
If I don't take care of myself, of course I feel like I have nothing to offer... Because the truth is, I really don't!

Here are the ways I need to do better to take care of myself...
1. Get more sleep. I know I need 8-9 hours to feel good but constantly stay up late anyway. I will never feel better until I change this.
2. Get fully dressed first thing every day. I am always afraid to call people back, run an errand or generally be in touch with the world when I have an "at home" day because I'm generally not ready for the day. (Did I just admit that to the world? On the internet? Oh boy.)
3. Use a monthly planner and a To-Do List. This just makes me better on top of things and less forgetful.
4. Take moments for God and moments for myself every day. I think sometimes I also procrastinate on work because I am afraid I won't GET to take care of myself. Talk about crazy. This FEAR totally perpetuates the CRAZY cycle. Worry I won't get to take care of myself, procrastinate work, work builds up, do the marathon for the work, wind up not taking care of myself, burn out... rinse & repeat... I think I need a therapist... oh wait! That's why I have you! ;-)
5. Eat 3 meals a day and drink water. I have mentioned before how sometimes this escapes me. Don't kid yourself... you do it too.

I admit I am not normal. Most people don't struggle with the most ABSOLUTE BASIC things in life (sleeping enough, eating enough, getting dressed in the morning... haha!), but I will bet there are things that you need that you aren't getting. We are women after all, and everyone else always come first. I'm not saying it's bad to put others first... just that we also need to care for ourselves.

So what is it? What do you need in your life to be better taken care of? More sleep? Time for stress relief each week? Each day? (I know some of you reading this have very demanding lives!) Exercise? More water?

This is not a "what could you to do to be a better person" type question. I want you to really think. Are you missing something in your life that is VITAL to your ability to function in your job or as a person? Think about it while you read these inspiring posts and leave a comment below. As always, I look forward to hearing from you! Happy Monday!

The Art of Rest

The Most Important Hour of the Day

I'm Officially a Morning Person

Be More Joyful

For the Mama's of Preschoolers & Older Kids Too

Inspire Me! Monday: Cleaning House

Ick!

Just looking at that title "Cleaning House" gives me a bad taste in my mouth. Does it for you too?

Well, let's just take a deep breath together, shall we?

If the idea of "cleaning house" doesn't make you sick... well, say a prayer for those of us that it does! And be sure to add your tips in the comment sections.

I'll make my comments on cleaning house pretty succinct (I hope) since I have written a lot about this subject here at Common to Moms. I think it's a subject that's always on our minds though, since we always have to do it, right?

Again, let me start with this: I pretty much stink at keeping a house. BUT I am also stubborn. I am not giving up. I am working hard. I am praying hard. I read a lot and try new things. What I lack in consistency, I make up in creativity and some way or another, things get cleaned every-so-often... and that is the important part.


Since my last post, I have received all ten of the books I ordered for my birthday! So far the one pictured above - Absolutely Organized- is one that is really getting me excited about getting things under control in my home.

One of the things about being a right brained person is that I don't typically come up with a solution that makes total sense. Just because I organize something, make files or clean up doesn't mean that it is a solution I will keep coming back to. The solution might be pretty, but it doesn't mean it will function in the best way. This book, however, gives you choices, options and ideas for how to get things organized (from someone I am assuming is fairly Type A- but not judgmental in any way), and it is already making me think about some improvements I can make to my home to make things less chaotic.

I am realizing as I read this book and as I am doing my taxes this week, that getting organized to someone who has never really been organized before is a process. Little by little we will make systems for ourselves that we use. We will improve them until they work! (My taxes are getting easier since I make my systems for keeping tracks of things better every year!) Rome wasn't built in a day... but it was built. The process is what we cannot give up on. We have to keep working at things and enjoy them as we go, sharing ideas and encouraging one another on.

Here are some fun links to ideas and encouragement to help you (and me!) when it comes to keeping our homes in order.

Getting More Organized Is Not the Goal

The Thirty Minute Power Clean

7 Ways to Trick Yourself into Thinking Cleaning is FUN!

Free Cleaning Schedule Printable

Easing into a Laundry Routine

What do you do to make cleaning fun and effective?

Happy Monday!

Love, Rachel