A Hairy Situation

So my hair's been weighing me down lately.  It's been more than a year since it's been cut professionally.  I've been complaining to my husband about how long my hair has gotten, how gross it is that it sheds all over the house, and how it's been making me feel unkempt.  I know getting a hair cut isn't in our budget (not only that, but last time I did pay a professional hair dresser to cut my hair, she talked me out of what I wanted and gave me a haircut I didn't like) and had mentioned to my husband that I was going to YouTube how to cut my own hair (I've done it before - see here!).  When mentioning it to a friend of mine, she said something like, "Yeah, if you put it in a ponytail and cut it you'll get layers."  I was willing to test this hair styling theory out.  My husband encouraged me to finally do it:  he called me from work right before his lunch break to tell me that he'd find a YouTube video and help me cut my hair.  Isn't that sweet?  So later that evening after he got home from work, we searched YouTube and found this video and here are the results:

I thought cutting my hair in the shower would help the clean up after the cut go more quickly.  So I shampooed and conditioned my hair - realized that I needed to towel-dry my hair a bit - bent over and brushed my hair into a ponytail on the top of my head, slid my hair tie down to where I wanted to cut my hair, did a test run with a small pair of hair clippers at the thin ends of my hair and realized that pair wasn't going to cut it, so I called for my husband to get me my fabric scissors.  If the lady in the video could use a pair of regular scissors, then I guess I could too!  My husband did end up cutting my hair for me.  I could have done it myself, but he wanted to help so I let him.  Plus he's less of a perfectionist than I am.  He cut my quarter to a half dollar thick ponytail under my hair tie into a little trash can outside our tub and it was done!  I decided to shampoo and condition my hair again and did not expect to see what I did in the bathroom mirror!  When Gregg cut my hair it looked like one big fat chopped off chunk, but it really does work!  The ponytail cut does layer your hair!  I got a beautiful, thinned out, layered cut for free!  And just by showering in the evening and letting my hair dry in a bun overnight, I get these fun, bouncy curls!

Here are my girls getting into my photo shoot this morning [laughs].

If you just like your layers in the front and only like about 2 to 3, then this hair cut probably isn't for you.  It appears that this hair cut works for both thin, straight hair (the hair type the lady in the video appears to have) and thick, wavy hair (the type I have).

Edit:  To be safe, slide your elastic hair band almost to the end of your ponytail because if you cut off too much, your top layers are going to be really short!  There's also a tip posted under the video: "TIP: if you're really wanting to hack quite a lot off, start your ponytail further up your head rather than at your forehead, that way you won't end up with very short bits at the front."

I feel confident now that when it comes time, I will be able to give Leala her first hair cut with success!  I am also inspired to follow other YouTube videos for future hair styles. 

Sources of Encouragement {From One Mom to Another}

Shortly after Sally Clarkson's annual Mom Heart Conference at the beginning of this year, I did some online research and compiled a list of moms I could find online who had attended one of the three conferences and shared what they had learned and how they had been blessed.  Before I knew it, the hype of the conference had passed and the information I had gathered - but hadn't had the time to finish and post - seemed to be old news.  With Mother's Day being tomorrow however, I felt compelled to blog about the sources I have received encouragement from as a mother.  It seemed a perfect time to pull up this draft and complete it!

Now there's a lot here and I don't expect you to read it all in one sitting.  So maybe Bookmark this post or Pin it to refer back to when you're needing a little more refreshment.

Here's a glimpse into the 2012 Mom Heart Conferences that were held in February.  For those of you not familiar with the Mom Heart Conference, you can read about the one I got to attend a couple years ago here.

Heavenly Glimpses:
In Which I've Contemplated Hiring Sally as Supernanny {And the Mom Heart Conference!

Moms In Need of Mercy:
The Mom Heart Conference:  Encouragement, Rejuvenation, Inspiration

I Take Joy:
Training My Princess

The Farmer's Nest:
Mom Heart Conference 2012 {Recap}

Inspired to Action:
The Best Advice I Heard at the Mom Heart Conference

Raisin' 4:
Mom Heart Conference Meets GMG!

Women Living Well:
Top 10 Quotes on Motherhood

Nunez News: 
Mom Heart Conference {A Mom Like Me} - Part 1
Mom Heart Conference {The Importance of Daily Fellowship} - Part 2
Mom Heart Conference {Becoming a Heart-shaping Mother} - Part 3


Posts on Sally Clarkson's Facebook Wall:

Whittney Bevington Hoyler 

‎"You are the Bible your kids are reading." - Sally Clarkson

Jennifer Brown Crawford
"No mom alive will ever be perfect, or even always adequate.  But for those who serve in a spirit of love and joy, there will always be strings of living connection between the heart of a child and her mom, tying them together forever."  Gotta love Sally Clarkson!

Laura Heimer Warrick 

If you have little boys who need to brush up on manners, I have a book to recommend to you. Good Manners for a Little Warrior by Kelly Chapman (she has a princess book too) is a winner. I got it at Sally Clarkson's Mom Heart Conference this weekend, kind of as an after thought, and read a chapter to Jonathan (6) and Joshua (4) earlier this evening and they ASKED for the second chapter before bed AND Joshua tried to smuggle it to bed.

Kimberly McCuistion 

Is there a way we can access Joy's video that you showed at the conference in Dallas? I was telling my husband about it and wanted him to hear what Joy had to say and how well she said it because she does it so well :). Her topic is one we've discussed and went back and forth on and I really like her perspective on the whole thing! She is very inspiring and convincing :). Thanks!

Sally Clarkson 

PEOPLE FROM THE CONFERENCES HAVE BEEN REQUESTING THAT I POST JOY'S SPEECH, SO HERE IT IS! 

Theresa Horton Miller

Those of you who know of or follow Sally Clarkson (or have never heard of her before, but are passionate about raising up a family of leaders), you may not want to miss this [blog post]. Also included is Sally's 16-year-old daughter's speech that blew me away at her recent conference! 

Natalie Haber

I heard this video at the conference. I prayed a small prayer a year ago asking the Lord to help me raise my children the way he was showing me. "I have no idea how to do that I told Him" He answered my prayer through Sally Clarkson. He has graciously humbled me and continues to open my eyes to where I have been stuck on rules and formulas. Leading me to the path of His joy and freedom:) I hope this blesses you to!

In closing, if you're interested, here are some of the sources I have gone/go to, as a mom, for encouragement, inspiration, instruction and refreshment:

Books

Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child's Heart for Eternity by Sally Clarkson

Ministry of Motherhood: Following Christ's Example in Reaching the Hearts of Our Children by Sally Clarkson

Dancing With My Father: How God Leads Us into a Life of Grace and Joy by Sally Clarkson

Heartfelt Discipline: The Gentle Art of Training and Guiding Your Child by Clay Clarkson

Start Your Family: Inspiration for Having Babies by Steve and Candice Watters

Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and Brett Harris

Start Here: Doing Hard Things Right Where You Are by Alex and Brett Harris

The Duggars: 20 and Counting! by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar

A Love That Multiplies by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar

(Note: To get what I like to call my "Dose of the Duggars," I go here to watch episodes from their TV show!)

Blogs: My Online Oases

Arielle Elise 
Grace 2 Be
Money Saving Mom
Aimee Weaver
I Take Joy
Mom Heart Blog

Q. Who has helped you form your parenting philosophies?  What resources have greatly impacted the way you parent?

A Tale of Two Walks

Today marks the second day of what I hope will become a habit of walking every day.  They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, so I still have a ways to go to see my faithfulness pay off!  Getting the girls on a walk this morning was reminiscent to me of the scene in Sense and Sensibility when Marianne tries to get her sister, Margaret to walk with her:

Marianne:  Come, I'm taking you on a walk.
Margaret:  No, I've been on a walk.
Marianne:  You need another.
Margaret:  It's going to rain.
Marianne:  It is not going to rain.
Margaret:  You always say that, and then it always does.

In my case, watching "Strawberry Land" was my 2-year-old's debate to going outside and though it looked like it was going to rain, thanks to modern day technology, I was able to confirm that it wasn't going to on weather.com.

So here are some highlights, in pictures, of our walk:

Anyone know what kind of bird this is?  It kept flitting down to the ground and then back up on to the fence. My guess is this little black bird was getting some worms.

These trees were so interesting-looking!  These blooming flowers are so bright!  What kind of tree is this?

Saw lots of lady bugs on this walk!  I cannot believe how well this photo turned out with just a Cannon PowerShot camera!  I've always been afraid of the Manual setting because I thought I had to know what I was doing.  Boy, does it work wonders!  I'm glad I dared to experiment!

What do you think the story is behind this shoe?  It's been laying in the same spot for weeks.  I didn't know it at the time, but I ended up getting a lady bug in the shot.  Do you see it?  Once again, I'm so surprised at how the photo on the left turned out.  I haven't been able to take pictures like this since my Cannon EOS Rebel T3i film camera!

My walking buddy, Leala (her 6-month-old sister, Adella was in the double stroller as well).  Leala has been getting these light streaks in her hair lately and I think the picture on the left captured it so beautifully!  I love natural lighting!

We passed an elderly gentleman on our cement path who stopped to chat and noticed that I was taking pictures as well.  He shared with us some of the animals he had spotted along the way, and this ground squirrel was one of them.

I had to get a picture of this tree!  When I saw it yesterday, I thought to myself (in light of pom poms being the latest wedding and nursery decor craze), "God came up with the pom pom first!"  I had to give Him credit here!

We didn't see the male and female duck pair we saw yesterday, but I walked all the way to the end of the road where the elderly gentleman had said he had seen them.  Right as I was turning back towards home, I saw something come down from the sky and it was the male Mallard making his landing into the creek!  He was out of zoom range, so the picture isn't the best.

May you take the time to enjoy the beauty that's right outside your door!

"Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing." 

- Camille Pissarro 

What a Deal!

I feel like the Money Saving Mom, posting about the deals I got, but they were too good not to share!

So check this out, I got the Meet Strawberry Shortcake DVD for 31 cents and the five  Classic Characters Golden Books boxed set for FREE!  Yeah, no joke!  I was a bit skeptical that I could get a DVD that was in the good, used condition it was described as on Amazon.com for only 31 cents (plus $2.98 shipping and handling), but I did!  Not a scratch or smudge on the DVD and the case is in great shape!  I found three other used copies of various different Strawberry Shortcake DVD's for 99 cents each from a different seller on Amazon.com that I hope are in the good condition they were described as.  I will definitely add a raving review if they are!  There are a few other DVD's I want to get for my 2-year-old (who's all about what she refers to as "Strawberry Land") that I'll be willing to purchase if their used condition is described as having no scratches on them, in a case that's in good shape, for under $1.

As for the Golden Books, since I never received the free 1-year Parents magazine subscription from the Huggies Rewards catalog I tried to redeem last August, I didn't know if I'd really receive anything for my second attempt to get an item with my cashed in rewards points.  Both times I was notified via email that it would take about 6 to 8 weeks to process my order.  So when the box my husband carried in from our mail box today contained my Golden Books order (which I thought were the other three Strawberry Shortcake DVD's I purchased), I was delightfully surprised (to get an idea of how the Huggies Rewards works, check out my post Fru-gal-ity)!  So I will definitely keep collecting those yellow little stickers on the Huggies products I purchase and submitting the points online!

I've also been getting crazy deals and rewards buying my groceries at Vons (Safeway), so maybe I'll need to post a second edition of Fru-gal-ity with an update on other ways I've found to save money as a stay-at-home mom.


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Sunday, April 29, 2012 [Edit]

So here it is - my raving review!  A couple days ago I received the three other used Strawberry Shortcake DVD's I ordered (sooner than I was expecting to get them!), the discs in perfect condition and the cases in good shape!  So I've learned from experience that it's not a too-good-to-be-true deal to receive used DVD's purchased for under $1 in the like new condition they were described to be online!  Since I had to cancel our Netflix subscription that we got to enjoy for a month, purchasing these DVD's so my 2-year-old could still enjoy watching "Strawberry Land" was worth it to me.  Plus, you don't get the bonus features on Netflix that you do when you own the DVD.

Arielle Elise Photography

When I think of Arielle, one word comes to mind - light.  And that's not just because she's a natural light photographer, as is clearly seen in the luminous photos she takes for weddings, portraits, special projects and her personal [slash] photography blog!  Since I "met" her online several years ago, light has emanated from Arielle through her strong faith, good example, and personal thoughts she has openly shared on her blogs about singleness, missions, marriage, motherhood and the other journeys life has taken her on.  I love Arielle's style of photography because it captures everything that's beautiful about life. Check out Arielle Elise Photography for yourself and find out how you can capture the beautiful moments of your life!

Little Treasures [Second Edition]

It's that time of year again - our church's annual rummage sale!  I was so excited to finally clear the boxes that had been lining up in our hallway tonight when I brought my donated items to the church for Saturday's rummage sale!  Of course, I had to check out what potential deals were to be had!  My attention was drawn to the part of the room where the bookshelves were holding [laughs] none other than books - surprise (it dawned on me how funny that sounded as I was writing it)!  First thing that caught my eye - the A&E VHS set of Pride and Prejudice.  I own the movie starring Kiera Knightley but I had no idea what I was missing from the story until a friend let me borrow the A&E version back in the days when I was literally sitting on the couch all day long nursing Leala when she was a baby, my mind turning to mush, bored out of my brains.  The character development is a lot better in the A&E series, though I still prefer some of the casting in the 2005 film.  Can't wait to share this with my mother-in-law (she loves Jane Austen's novels and I was telling her about this series).  Now all I need to do is actually read the novel, which, in fact, came free with my recent download of the free Kindle Reading App.  That's what summertime is good for, right?

When it comes to a rummage sale or thrift store, I'm always on the look out for good stories that I can add to my girls' book collection!  I'm really selective when it comes to what my girls watch, what is read to them and what they'll read in the future.  We're given so much time in a day and I want good quality stuff forming their little minds.  What shapes who'll they'll become someday really does start when they're little.  So when it comes to stories either shown in a movie or written in a book, I look for the ones with good moral, character-shaping lessons.  Well, I scored!  I got the complete collection of the American Girl Kit and Samantha stories.  The first one I found was Samantha Learns a Lesson on the shelf all by itself.  I was hoping that wasn't the only one and that I'd find some more American Girl books.  I came across a Mystery one, but I'm unfamiliar with those stories.  Then I found the Kit Story Collection to my delight!  After rummaging through some nearby boxes filled with books and movies, there it was - that classic dark red box encasing the rest of the Samantha stories!  Oh my, seeing that box with the ribbon tied in front brought back memories from when I was into the American Girls in 5th grade.  My favorite was Felicity.  I'm so looking forward to sharing this historical fiction with my girls that the American Girl website advertises as, "Stories from the past, lessons for the present."  I couldn't have said that better!

The last of my finds were a copy of The Pilgrim's Progress, For the Children's Sake, and one of Leala's favorite movies, Bolt.

On my mental wish list was a copy of Pilgrim's Progress written in modern English.  I had purchased a copy years ago that had claimed just that, but when my husband and I tried reading through it, we were practically looking up every other word in the dictionary!  [laughs] I double checked this copy and it really is "modern."  I look forward to reading this Christian classic.

I'm sure I had read a recommendation somewhere for the book For the Children's Sake, written by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, Francis and Edith Schaeffer's daughter.  I became familiar with Francis Schaeffer through his awesome documentary How Should We Then Live.  I think his wife wrote a parenting book that I've wanted to check out.  Anyway, this book Susan wrote seems to be a promising addition to the books I've been collecting about educating my children.

[laughs] And lastly, Leala was so excited that I had gotten her the Bolt movie that she instantly ejected the current movie she was watching from the DVD player to watch it.  From my experience at last year's rummage sale, when I spotted the Bolt DVD case, I opened it up to make sure the DVD was really in there.  It was!  Then I decided to check the condition of it - like new (not a scratch or smudge)!  This was another one on my mental wish list because when I had rented it from our local library, Leala watched it so many times!  I think one of the reasons she likes it so much is because one of her favorite animals is a "puppy."

Each of the books I believe were 50 cents and the movies $1.

To end this post that I had planned to make a short one, if you're local to the San Diego area and love rummage sales, come down to Cross Connection Escondido on Saturday, April 21st from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm to get some good deals on some treasures of your own!  All the proceeds go to funding the missions trips we have planned this year (Africa, China and Israel to name a few).  You can also contribute by donating sell-able items tomorrow, Friday, April 20th, from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Check out the treasures I found last year in my post Little Treasures [First Edition].

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Saturday, April 21, 2012 [Edit]

My husband let me go to the rummage sale when it opened this morning, before he had to go to work, and I scored more deals for $5 total!

One of the first things I spotted was a like new, 6 book Felicity box set!  She was my favorite American Girl! And after a little bit of rummaging, I found the missing Samantha's Surprise book that I noticed wasn't in the collection I bought the other night.  Thank God I found it!

I got The Rescuers book for my 2-year-old since it's one of her favorite Disney movies and was "berry" happy when I spotted the Strawberry Shortcake board book because Leala is totally into her right now!  She points out every image of a strawberry she spots, whether it's on one of her shirts or on a jar of "Strawberry Jam" and excitedly proclaims, "Strawberry Land!"

A game-lovin' friend of mine pointed out the Junior Apples to Apples to me which she had mentally noted would be something I'd like to get for Leala. [laughs] You could actually get one yourself in a Wendy's Kids' Meal.  I actually got a couple earlier this week with a $1.99 each coupon and ended up with the Flippin' Frogs game which Leala has had so much fun with (not to mention it's helped her learn her colors "yellow" and "red" and how to count up to 6!) and Pictionary Man.

FREE Francis Chan!

No, Francis Chan is not in jail.  However, three of his books are available for free* to download through Amazon Kindle:

Crazy Love:  Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

Forgotten God:  Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

Erasing Hell: What God Said About Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up    

About four years ago I found out about Francis Chan from an online friend and my Christian life has never been the same!  Through listening to his podcast, I gained a higher view of God that totally revolutionized how I related to Him and changed how I worshiped Him.  I was encouraged to live more by faith in what God could do, not limiting Him to my circumstances, knowledge or experience.  I also learned the importance of being a part of a body of believers and how exciting it is to go to church with the attitude of being a blessing to others and meeting God in His house.  To sum it all up, a lot of negativity in my Christian walk was replaced with the joy of knowing God better.  I'm always blessed by pastors who preach what they practice and Francis Chan is such a pastor.

I was so excited when Francis Chan's first book Crazy Love came out!  I read most of it and then ended up lending it out to a friend.  About a year later I got it back!  Since that first book, I've been curious about the books Francis Chan wrote on the Holy Spirit and Hell.  Now I get to check them out!

OH, and if you don't have a Kindle like me, you can download a free Kindle Reading App as well!

* The three books listed above, written by Francis Chan, were available to download for free up until Easter.  However, the Kindle Purchase Price for Crazy Love and Forgotten God is only $2.24 and only $2.99 for Erasing Hell (all $2.99 on Nook).  Still a bargain find! 

Encouraged to Encourage

So I took an unintentional hiatus from blogging.  To be honest, I got discouraged.  I was starting to feel like the time I would take out of any given day to blog was not ending up being worth the sacrifice.  Who was I even reaching?  Why make my private life public?  Did people actually want to know my thoughts like I assumed they did?  So I stopped investing my time in this part of my online life and put it more into my offline one.

And then I got encouraged.

I was reminded of why I blog.  I make my thoughts, my experiences, my life available to the public because I want to encourage others like others have encouraged me.  I seek to be encouraged regularly so that I can be an encouragement myself.

However, being an encouragement doesn't mean I always have to be upbeat.  It doesn't mean the circumstances in my life have to always be favorable.  It doesn't mean I have to appear strong when I'm feeling weak.  But what I do think it means is that I'm honest and open when I think it may help someone else who's going through something similar; when I'm in the midst of a struggle, I look for a way it can make me a stronger person; when I'm wrong, I humbly admit it and apologize; when I fall down, I choose to get right back up; when I'm feeling empty, I know where to go to get refreshed.

A Field[s] Day is a place where I share both the good times wrapped up in my days of excitement and the bad times that I choose to see as my circumstances of opportunity, and whether you stumble upon this spot or it's a subscription of yours, may you find it to be an online oasis.

Spreadin' the Love

So I'm excited to share some original ideas with you all!  You have to understand, these come few and far between.  Sometimes when I do get an original idea, out of curiosity I do a Google search (and now I search Pinterest too) and come to disappointedly find out that someone else came up with the same "original" idea before me.  So as far as I know, and as far as I've searched, here are some original ideas I've come up with that I hope inspire you.

Lately I've been into wanting to decorate our home with branches.  I went "branch hunting" recently while going on a walk with my husband and two girls and broke off three small ones.  I have yet to use those for an idea I have that I will reveal in a later post.  Then I saw this big branch outside near our home!  I think the neighborhood kids knocked it down.  Well, what they may have meant for destruction, I have found a constructive use for [smile].  I was encouraged this last weekend to start decorating our home for Valentine's Day from an old post on Sally Clarkson's blog.

I got the idea to hang paper hearts and red ball ornaments on the branches from when I threw my oldest daughter a heart-themed birthday party (since her middle name is "Heart") at a local park when she turned one a couple years ago.  I cut out all the hearts from pink and red construction paper and looked up quotes that mentioned the heart or that were about love to write on each one.  A friend who helped me decorate for the party is actually the one who hung the ball ornaments in the trees and several of our guests made comments about them looking like berries from a distance.

When my husband came home from work and saw the new decor he said, "That's cool!"  And then later he commented again saying, "That's cute."  I always think it's funny when guys use the word "cute" to describe something.

Quotes from Mother Teresa are among some of my favorites.  I kept this one in mind when I went to church Sunday morning.  (Note: the screen print on my Bible was done by an awesome ministry named The Death Defeaters and Crazy Love is a thought-provoking book from Francis Chan).

I used to hate Valentine's Day.  To me it was one of the few holidays that excluded some people (like me) from celebrating it.  As far as I could tell, unless there was a guy who was interested in me, I had a boyfriend or I was married, I wasn't going to get to celebrate Valentine's Day.  I had heard that there were moms out there who did special things for their kids for Valentine's Day to include them, which is what I decided I wanted to do someday for my future kids.  Well, one day I did get to get married and when Valentine's Day came around I was determined to remember my single friends and what it felt like to be in their shoes.  I remember meeting with a couple of my friends at a Starbucks and giving them a little heart-decorated lunch box I had filled with homemade sugar cookies and a handmade Valentine card.

I remember writing a list of all the single girl friends I could think of and mailing them the rest of the handmade Valentine cards I made.  I had some pink cardstock left over from when I was into stamping and decorated them with heart stickers and pink and red gel pens.

I meant to do the same thing the following year, but I didn't end up mailing out the new handmade Valentines I made.

I made these out of scrapbook paper I had leftover from some past project and decorated them with those leftover heart stickers, torn pieces of white printer paper and vellum quotes and words from some pads I bought for wedding decor a few years ago.

This year my list of single friends is short but this time a couple widows also came to mind.  I never thought of widows around Valentine's Day and though I haven't experienced that season of life myself, I can imagine they must feel a little sad too when February 14 comes around.  So hopefully this won't be another good intention I don't follow through on.  I gotta get these Valentines in the mail!

Oh What Consolation!

Sally Clarkson's Mom Heart Conference is going on right now up in Irvine, California.  Last year I got to go for the first time with a small group of women from my church.  What an experience it was!  It was so inspiring and encouraging!  From that conference, a once-a-month Mom Heart Group was birthed.  All five of us ladies who went to the conference have been studying through Sally Clarkson's book, The Mission of Motherhood, plus an older mom who was asked to lead our group and two other new moms who were invited to join us.  We have two more meetings left.  Unfortunately, none of us were able to make it to this year's conference.  I really felt I could use some refreshment.  Lately, with a [fairly] new baby in addition to the 2-year-old I already have and my husband in his last semester of college before grad school, I've felt very stretched trying to meet four people's needs every day.  And then there's the uncharted realm of discipline my husband and I have been stumbling through ever since our oldest daughter became a toddler.  We've gotten mixed opinions from other Christian parents on what the Bible means when it mentions in the Proverbs disciplining a child with a "rod."  I honestly haven't felt right from the beginning about spanking a child that can't talk yet.  But when I did a word study on "rod," looking up its original Hebrew meaning... rod was a literal rod.  It wasn't symbolic of [insert method of discipline].  Okay, so I'm one that tends to lean towards trusting that God knows what He's talking about 'cause He made everything and knows how His creation works and sees the future and knows how everything is going to turn out.  So who am I to question how God says to discipline?  So that settles it, right?  Well, not exactly.  My husband and I tried to come to an agreement that we would reserve spanking for, you know, the "big" stuff, for deliberate disobedience.  But even when we followed through with that plan, we noticed a result in our daughter that we haven't liked; she starts hitting and kicking.  How do you explain to a toddler who's still learning how to talk that it's not right for her to hit us, or her sister, or things when she doesn't get her way, but that it's okay for us to "hit" her when we're not getting our way with her?  What really made me think was one day when I was giving our oldest a time out for swinging at her baby sister and I told her, "It's not nice for you to hit your sister.  Would you like for someone to [oh...] hit you?"  So yeah, we've been desperate for awhile when it comes to knowing how to discipline our children as Christian parents, so I finally ordered a used copy of the still out-of-print book by Clay Clarkson, Heartfelt Discipline.  I ordered it to get some more clear direction on this issue and as a consolation for missing Sally's conference this year.

And what should I find in the mail the night the Mom Heart Conference began in Irvine (as I was hoping it would be the night it would arrive)?  A like-new copy of the book Heartfelt Discipline!  I literally thought in my head, "Oh what consolation!" and proclaimed it to my husband out loud when I came in the front door from checking the mail.  So I set my notes from last year's conference, my copy of The Mission of Motherhood that I'm still doing a study through, my copy of Dancing with My Father that I've been reading through for personal encouragement, and my newest addition to my Clarkson collection, Heartfelt Discipline, on the counter and lit a candle Sally Clarkson style!

So the next best thing to getting to go to a Mom Heart Conference?  Having a Mom Heart Group that I get to be a part of, where I can get that refreshment I've been needing as an overwhelmed mama lately.  Having my own copy now of Heartfelt Discipline so my husband and I don't have to feel like we're floundering around when it comes to trying to faithfully and lovingly discipline our 2-year-old daughter.  Getting to read the reports from moms who did get to go to a Mom Heart Conference this year like here and here and reading Sally's follow-up thoughts after she spoke at the Mom Heart Conference in Colorado.

Plus, if I was in Irvine last night, I wouldn't have gotten to enjoy eating dinner with my handsome husband (or help him work on a desktop publishing project for school later that night) and witness my 2-year-old daughter paint pizza sauce all over her face (which I'm sure I wouldn't have thought was that cute or funny if Gregg didn't offer to clean her up afterwards).

And I wouldn't have gotten to wake up to greet my lively Leala and enjoy spending the morning with her or gotten to be with my cutie, Adella (who I was unknowingly pregnant with last year at the conference) in the comfort of our home and watch her get closer to being able to grab her feet.  There is a time and season for everything and this year it was my time to keep applying what I've gleaned from Sally and be thankful for what I have.

Note:  If anything else is shared online about this year's Mom Heart Conference, I would be more than happy to add the links on here!

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Sunday, January 5, 2012 Revision

This mom shared some of the things she learned on her Facebook profile:

Tracy Schulte
Sally Clarkson, so refreshing for this mama's heart! A few tid-bits...
A happy mom is a real gift to her children.
Discipleship takes a long time, but it changes hearts.
I am the PERFECT Mom for MY children.
Put down the work and pick up the child. [LOVE that; it's been stuck in my head since I read it!]
Guilt kills a soul.
Moms are advocates for their children, doing everything they can to make sure they make it in the world.
Guide. Inspire. Encourage.

AND...

She did it!  Adella touched her feet for the first time last night!  I knew she was getting close to doing it!  I love watching the different stages of my girls' growth.

Rest in Relationships

This last week has been a great turn around from the previous weekend's meltdown, feeling overwhelmed with my role as a mom and stretched trying to meet my husband's needs while he works full-time and finishes his last semester to earn his B.A. in English Literature.  It had to have started with a prayer.  I was feeling so down Monday morning; unmotivated, discouraged.  I tried to pray myself out of it, look into my girls' precious faces to boost my spirits, but I was stuck.  I had to get up out of bed though.  I had to take care of my girls.  As I went about my morning routine, it's like a switch was turned on inside of me.  All of a sudden I was encouraged.  When my husband came home for lunch I asked him if he had prayed for me.  He had and I had felt it.  Feeling someone's prayer for you is an amazing experience.

Since then I've been able to enjoy life as a mom.  I've been able to have patience during disciplining my 2-year-old.  I've actually taken the time to cherish my 3-month-old instead of taking care of business (changing diapers, nursing), then putting her down to move on to the next task.  I think that may have been some of the source of my stress lately.  I think I've been too task-oriented since Adella was born.  When Leala was born, I took the time to just be with her.  Now that I've gotten back to relaxing with Leala and making sure I spend relational time with Adella, I have more peace in my life.  I was recently going through my notes from last year's Mom Heart Conference since I won't be able to go this year, and one of the things Sally Clarkson had shared was that, "Busyness creates harshness."  I know that's true in my life.

So instead of seeing Leala burying herself in a pile of clean laundry that needed to be sorted, folded and put away as a hindrance to me getting a chore done, I had fun laughing with her each time I "found her" hiding in the heap of clothes.  Instead of busying myself with tasks, I've enjoyed taking the time to stroke Adella's soft cheek, pet her furry head, do things that make her smile, let her practice gripping with my fingers, show an interest when she tries to talk.  When Leala has reached her arms up to me communicating that she wants me to pick her up, bring her to the couch and snuggle with her while we watch a movie, I haven't bypassed her because I have things to do.  Instead I've been thankful for the fact that God made her to be a snuggler and have taken the time to encourage that part of who she is.  And as I've been taking the time to enjoy my relationship with my girls, I've been blessed to watch the relationship that's been blossoming between Leala and Adella as sisters.

Another relationship I've found rest in this week is my one with God.  Since I've started my 4-month Bible reading plan on Monday, I've felt God speaking to me a lot more than I've allowed Him time to previously.  Being disciplined in this area has definitely had a positive impact in my life. That impact would also include how I interact with my husband.  There's been less tension and better communication.  [laughs] It's almost a joke now, when I'm easily irritated, disrespectful or stressed, Gregg will ask me, "Did you read your Bible today?"  I definitely feel a difference when I do.  And it shows, like it has this past week, in the way I relate to my girls and my husband.  When I allow God the time to fill me up, I most certainly have what I need to pour out in to others.

Field[s] Goal

Recently I read about one of my friends accomplishing Goal #49 on her list.  I knew her blog was kind of geared toward having goals, but I didn't realize she had an official list, so out of curiosity I checked The Goals list out.  Pretty fun.  Pretty inspiring.  Reminds me of the character Jamie's To-Do List in the movie A Walk to Remember [watch here].  I may start an official Field[s] Goal list on here.  I mean, getting to do a play on words with our family name is enough of an incentive!

Based on the list of goals I started for 2012, I guess our family going to the park on Saturday would count as accomplishing Goal #3: Get the girls outside once a day... at least for that one day.  And you know, sometimes to accomplish goals, you need to amend them so that they're doable.  Baby steps, right?  So we decided that we'd try to make it our goal that on Sundays we would pack a lunch and take the girls to the park after church.  It's kind of like our dating goal; we're going to try to at least plan it for once a month.  "If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones [Luke 16:10]."

Now, I gotta take a moment to be honest here.  These fun, happy family snapshots... they don't tell the whole story.  The "rest of the story" is what I usually like to leave out when I write.  When I come on here to post, I like to point out the positive in my life.  Even when I decide to be a bit transparent on here about what's heavy on my heart, I like to end things with some light at the end of the tunnel.  But you know what, sometimes being honest about real life gives others hope when they realize that they're not alone in their struggles.  So yes, we had fun at the park feeding the ducks and playing on the playground but behind-the-scenes were two-year-old tantrums, a fussy baby, a couple of stressed parents and a mommy melt down.  I actually had two melt downs this weekend which reminded me of a parenting quote I had just read:

"... you've got to stay connected to the Lord if you're going to have His strength, His grace, His joy, to serve your family.  If you neglect your relationship with Him, then your love for your children will wane because Christ is the source of love.  If you're not letting Him fill you with His love, then you're going to come to a place where your love runs out."

[Parenting With Purpose with Nancy Leigh DeMoss] 

So here's to Goal #15: Read through the Bible in 4 months.  I know this may seem to go against what I said at the beginning about setting small goals, but I did a Bible reading plan like this about 7 years ago and it was so beneficial to my devotional life!  With my husband starting his last semester of school tomorrow, that'll earn him a BA in English Literature, I was motivated to customize a Bible reading plan that would start tomorrow and end on Gregg's graduation day in May.

"To intentionally cultivate discipline in your life, you must have goals. Not just dreams, not just lofty ambitions, but specific, realistic, achievable goals. If you don’t know where you’re aiming, you’ll lack direction and purpose."

[21 Days to a More Disciplined Life: Discipline Requires Goal-Setting]