The View from Here - {Tuesdays Unwrapped}

Emily over at Chatting at the Sky has a weekly post called "Tuesdays Unwrapped - celebrating the small things".  I've participated a few times in the past and feel called to participate again today.

With our current economic situation and Daddy's unemployment status, we have received the gift of humility and the blessing of a renewed lens with which to view our lives and our MANY blessings.

We recognize that God is sovereign - always in complete control of each and every situation and we are encouraged knowing that He knows our full story when we are only seeing the current page of the book.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

During this uncertain time we have been blessed by others and are learning how to accept help with humble gratefulness.  With the very real possibility that I may have to return to work full-time, my heart is infused with thankfulness for this time I have at home with the children and I'm seeing each moment with them in a different and more precious way.  I'm finding I have more patience when I think that this may be the last few weeks I get to spend all my days with them.  Day by day we wait on the Lord, wondering what our future will hold, but until then I appreciate these gifts I've received and am thankful for this opportunity to learn from.

{Tuesdays Unwrapped} - Today's Gift

Today I'm participating in "Chatting At The Sky's" Tuesday's Unwrapped - celebrating beauty in the midst of chaos.

While reviewing some pictures today I found this one taken last night as we were having some "music time" before bed. How much fun we had singing and playing together, with Daddy & McGee on their guitars and Miss Em on her little drums. Then this morning I was blessed by waking to McGee singing, "Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you're my God! You're altogether worthy, altogether ..." He was singing quite loudly and I was afraid he'd wake Miss Em up, but nevertheless I just laid there and enjoyed his singing as he combined lyrics from a few different songs and made it a worship song all his own. When I finally did get out of bed I found him in Miss Em's room holding onto her crib sides as he was singing to her and she was smiling and bouncing all around. What a precious sight to wake up to!

Tuesdays Unwrapped

A blog I follow has a regular post called Tuesdays Unwrapped. Although I don't believe I've ever participated, on occasion I have read some of the entries and have been intrigued by the idea of seeing my life through thankful eyes and unwrapping the gifts of the everyday. Taken from a post in September:

Tuesdays are set aside around here to take time to share a moment that may have otherwise disappeared under the pile of daily tasks. Instead, we stop, notice and we are thankful.

Tonight as I was in the kitchen enjoying the laughs and giggles of McGee and Daddy playing hide-and-seek throughout the house I realized that today has been a treasured gift. From waking to the pelting rain and blustery winds with a sweet little hand caressing my cheek and asking me to wake up and put on some cartoons, to the time spent cleaning up after dinner while my family played, I have received a blessed gift today.

Here is a little run down of this perfectly wrapped package:

- wake to my adorable son and cuddle with him on the couch for an extra 1/2 hour of sleep for me and snuggles with mommy and cartoons for him

- arrive to Mom's Connection ON TIME and have both children dropped off at their nursery classes without any whining or crying

- wonderful time of food and fellowship with the amazing women in my small group

- picking up smiling happy-faced children and learning of the fun they had (and snuggles for Miss Em) in their classes, despite also receiving a report that McGee had a little issue with talking too much and telling everyone "I'm a monster!" when it was time to be quite. Oops! I'm afraid this may be a common complaint from teachers in our future, as she also said he kind of wanted to try and teach the class himself. :)

- arriving home safely despite the extreme winds and rain, flooding and downed trees

- an unexpected call from a dear long-distance friend and the news that they'll be adopting a little girl in February! Praise the Lord! I just enjoyed our conversation so much and let the kids play an extra 1/2 hour after they should have been sleeping because I didn't want to get off the phone. Love you Bekah!

- McGee having to get up only once during nap to "go potty". While he was sitting there he said, "Why is it raining and so windy?" Then he laughs and says, "That's so silly! They're outside there playing, the rain and wind are friends!"

- Enjoying a nice nap myself amidst the storm raging outside and then being slightly awakened every now and then by the laughs and squeals of McGee and Miss Em playing with Daddy who must have gotten them up from their naps so I could keep sleeping

- Spotting a beautiful rainbow outside our window while preparing dinner and discussing with McGee the promise God gives us in each rainbow we see. McGee said, "Is the rainbow hungry?" Me - "No I don't think it eats." McGee - "I think it's hungry. I'm going to feed it some dinner so it doesn't get tired and go away. I just need a balloon to take me high in the sky so I can feed it."

- Delicious dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, a favorite rainy day meal. Heard Miss Em speak more and more as she said, "I'm thirsty" and copied many things McGee said all day.

- Finished off the night with some good old "Hide & Seek" fun for McGee & Daddy and Miss Em just loved running all over the place laughing. After the dishes were done I joined in on the games and just can't express how much this unhurried, relaxed, downtime with my family is a gift that should never be taken for granted. Daddy gave the kids a bath and readied them for bed as I put a fresh apple crisp in the oven for us to enjoy once the kids were down.

I hope today brought you blessings as well and that you'll join me in appreciating the tiny gifts in the everyday moments we have.

Tuesdays Unwrapped

I've recently discovered Emily's blog, Chatting At the Sky , and have appreciated her design, her heart and the inspiration and encouragement I receive from her insights. She has a Tuesday series called Tuesdays Unwrapped...where "we have permission to take the time to unwrap the small, secret gift of the everyday." How rare for us busy mom's to take the time for this, but I love the possibility of doing so and today I am participating for the first time.

So this is my little gift, a 1953 story that was found yesterday thanks to my destructive and adventurous 15 month old daughter as she was emptying our office bookshelf of all of it's...books. Quickly discovered by my 3 year old during clean-up, it provided the gift of time spent on the floor doing nothing more than holding my children (or at least my 3 year old as my 15-month old has too much to do to sit still) and reading this delightfully simple and encouraging tale over and over (at least 4 times last night and 3 times tonight). This was a true blessing, a reminder of what a stay-at-home mom's (or any mom really) life should look like. A symbol of what I want my life to look like, rather than the frenzied, stressed out life I think I lived most of this year in trying to juggle the cleaning duties, the cooking duties (should have been more than I did), the laundry duties, bill-paying, grocery shopping, errands, organizing (definitely in a constant state of motion and still lacking), Bible study, Mom's Connection, Bunco, volunteering at the animal shelter, being a friend, daughter, sister, wife, mother, trying to exercise, eat better, resist chocolate, coupon-clip, read about becoming a better mom, read about being a better wife, scrapbooking, documenting family moments, playdates, library time, park time, art time, Pampered Chef, answering the phone (I'm not a phone person, but can't stand screening calls either), pruning the roses, pulling weeds, showering, ironing (should this really count since it's only done when necessary?), cleaning out the kid's clothes and oh, did I mention stain removal?

I've been feeling a bit negative today, a sour attitude has just been plaguing me. Maybe it was finding out this morning that my mom has MRSA again on the latest cancer removed from her scalp, maybe it's knowing my husband has to go back to work Friday and that our summer is over, and despite how wonderful and incredible it has been, it still went way too fast! Maybe my rotten attitude has to do with my monthly hormonal shift or the fact that due to shin splints I haven't ran since Friday and have been missing that release of happy hormones you get from excercising (sorry I can't remember at this hour what they're called, I'm pretty sure they start with "e"). Regardless of the reason(s) for my pretty much uncharacteristic (at least until I had two kids) negative shift in attitude, I want to wake up tomorrow ready to praise the Lord for allowing me another day with my children, with my husband and with HIM.

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with His singing. Zephaniah 3:17

I want to be someone the Lord rejoices over, and I think this gift of a storybook and time spent with my children is the closest I've come lately to fulfilling His will for me. I hope that the rest of this year can be spent bearing more fruit in my life and pleasing my Savior, for He'll never leave me (or you for that matter if you've given your heart to him), He will be with me always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20b). May you enjoy finding the unwrapped gift in your life today!